tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79426135405074371212018-12-04T12:24:59.245+11:00Not Quite Right!Blog: MusingS for the MasseSDarin Allannoreply@blogger.comBlogger71125nqrbloghttps://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-72791937487670703422018-02-08T16:08:00.001+11:002018-02-09T13:06:10.846+11:00Google Home and Broadlink RM Mini 3 Black Bean<h2>Google Home and Broadlink RM Mini 3 Black Bean Smart Home Wifi Universal IR Smart Remote Controller</h2><div>In my previous post I touched on the Broadlink RM Mini 3 Black Bean, this post will go into a bit more detail about setting it up and linking it to Google Home and Google Assistant. For the price of the Broadlink Black Bean I am very impressed with it's functionality and how it can help to encompass some of your older or non smart home devices into being able to control even more devices by voice from your Google Home.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmIKf3xzLxg/WnjNS5GH3dI/AAAAAAAAJcc/x94w2SgKdmYi_q_4SK0I2NRzvdRIgUuVwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Black_Bean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="502" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmIKf3xzLxg/WnjNS5GH3dI/AAAAAAAAJcc/x94w2SgKdmYi_q_4SK0I2NRzvdRIgUuVwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Black_Bean.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broadlink Black Bean</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>The first thing one needs to do is get a power source for the Black Bean it comes with a USB cable, but not a power pack, for many of us that's not an issue at all, with most of us having owned a few if not more Mobile Phones in our lives, so have a root around in your power pack draw or ask a friend for a mobile phone power pack that can accommodate a standard USB plug. The power supply will need to be 5 Volt with a minimum of 1 amp to power the Black Bean.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next step is to connect it to your Router's WiFi, it didn't like my 64 character wifi password even though it has no special characters within it, I was informed that it couldn't be any longer than 32 characters and it couldn't have any "special" characters in the wifi password. No problems, though it was a headache until I knew this lol, so I created a Guest login with a simpler password, so still secure and it gave the Black Bean access to my wifi/internet etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>All of the Black Bean's setup is done through the Broadlink IHC (Intelligent Home Center) app, both the initial configuration to connect to your router and adding the appliances you want the Black Bean to "take over" of their remotes. Their is another app called Broadlink e-control, but when you go to update that app you end up with the IHC app, so I guess that's the update or the new app they want you to use.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3y1xVxYcfdI/Wnu2Wt5Lj-I/AAAAAAAAJfU/0kF4RvQ2hnMfOxaW8aLooG5yOeGZHE0CwCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-120602.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3y1xVxYcfdI/Wnu2Wt5Lj-I/AAAAAAAAJfU/0kF4RvQ2hnMfOxaW8aLooG5yOeGZHE0CwCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-120602.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broadlink IHC Android App</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br />As you can see in the screenshot above I have added three appliances that have IR (Infrared) remote controllers. Remember this is for Infrared Remote Controls, the Black Bean has a big brother that can also handle RF remote controllers, but this is all I need at the moment, so it's what I chose and it's cheaper, the Black Bean cost me about $27 AUD, a bargain as far as I'm concerned.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Google Home recognises the "scenes" you create in the IHC app,&nbsp;scenes are essentially just like pressing the Remote buttons, except you are pressing the buttons from within the IHC app, here's a few screenshots.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fEruFlH_95Q/WnvXTujhNKI/AAAAAAAAJfs/tk-VQzyysE83PbLEDfOZTFesNWB4mfLaQCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-120615.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fEruFlH_95Q/WnvXTujhNKI/AAAAAAAAJfs/tk-VQzyysE83PbLEDfOZTFesNWB4mfLaQCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-120615.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IHC App Scenes</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugdiW7loSLc/WnvYCnudXlI/AAAAAAAAJf0/6lDS4julAzAgsS1KwKmeN9sDLGmla2MYACKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-120705.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugdiW7loSLc/WnvYCnudXlI/AAAAAAAAJf0/6lDS4julAzAgsS1KwKmeN9sDLGmla2MYACKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-120705.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TV On/Off</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz_ZHKJV9TA/WnvYNQbf4tI/AAAAAAAAJf4/V-p5LMSEFjETT_jf4YbbjblkKWbPqGcvgCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-120737.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz_ZHKJV9TA/WnvYNQbf4tI/AAAAAAAAJf4/V-p5LMSEFjETT_jf4YbbjblkKWbPqGcvgCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-120737.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Channel 24 Scene</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Yes for each Channel you need to create a scene like directly above except using different numbers of course for the corresponding channels. With this same scene directly above, when I want to go to that Channel which is ABC 24 News Channel, I need to say, Hey Google, Activate TV 24 and it navigates to that Channel. If you look at the same screenshot you will see I've put a 0.5 second delay between selecting the Number 2 and Number 4, seems to work well, but have a play and see if you need a delay or not or if you need a longer delay.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6q900zzTnXM/WnvZ5z5imnI/AAAAAAAAJgE/cS2FInM3xI8qQkyXCB6EJUiA8QcZ7suzwCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-120808.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6q900zzTnXM/WnvZ5z5imnI/AAAAAAAAJgE/cS2FInM3xI8qQkyXCB6EJUiA8QcZ7suzwCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-120808.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selecting my Chromecast Scene</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Screenshot directly above this text show a scene I created to go from "free to air" TV to my Chromecast, I'm still playing with this one, it works but does seem to "mess" up sometimes and get it wrong, so I'll keep experimenting or ditch it, I'll see how it goes.</div><br />I'll most likely add a bit more to this but I need to get screenshots and have a play with configuring scenes etc.<br /><br />Here's some screenshots of how these scenes appear in the Google Home App, they appear under the heading <b>Broadlink Smart Home.</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-djc6yKBx1Ss/Wnw6Af2CpTI/AAAAAAAAJgY/3gpi2pVnwmc-AA032QNijMqvp6aEt-lCgCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-075059.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-djc6yKBx1Ss/Wnw6Af2CpTI/AAAAAAAAJgY/3gpi2pVnwmc-AA032QNijMqvp6aEt-lCgCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-075059.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Home Control</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vnK1kcKiOI0/Wnw6QJCUrpI/AAAAAAAAJgc/_fVR-lh1FXkY0usxylAffNrwF_U6UhVcQCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-075316.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="225" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Home Control</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vnK1kcKiOI0/Wnw6QJCUrpI/AAAAAAAAJgc/_fVR-lh1FXkY0usxylAffNrwF_U6UhVcQCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-075316.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vnK1kcKiOI0/Wnw6QJCUrpI/AAAAAAAAJgc/_fVR-lh1FXkY0usxylAffNrwF_U6UhVcQCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-075316.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ilIFPhnDYI0/Wnw6V9keycI/AAAAAAAAJgg/6WtCva0GC0YgpILB85j8mp3BLF6EIRpkwCKgBGAs/s1600/Screenshot_20180208-075329.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ilIFPhnDYI0/Wnw6V9keycI/AAAAAAAAJgg/6WtCva0GC0YgpILB85j8mp3BLF6EIRpkwCKgBGAs/s400/Screenshot_20180208-075329.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Home Control</td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b>When I want to enable one of these "scenes" by voice through my Google Home/Mini it seems I need to say, <i>Hey Google, activate TV Power or activate TV 9, or activate Aircon Cool, or activate Amp Power</i>&nbsp;etc. So although it's not perfect, it rarely misses a beat and activates exactly what you want and with very minimal lag. The only time it fails is as with other functions, if the Google Homes don't hear you clearly.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/fDYWt1BDChM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0https://www.darinallanblog.com/2018/02/google-home-and-broadlink-rm-mini-3.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-56252674792661285272018-02-06T09:09:00.000+11:002018-02-09T04:41:52.289+11:00Google Home and Compatible Devices on a Budget - ReviewI've had my Google Home original model for a few months now, when I was first thinking about purchasing my Google Home, I thought, ok the unit itself looks great and will no doubt get better as Google add to it's features and abilities. The Home purchase was an easy decision, it's one unit it works as described, it's very handy alone. I've dreamt of getting into Home Automation for many years, the cost was prohibitive or on the other hand it meant running a stand alone Linux based computer with a fair bit of configuration and the devices you still need was still an issue price wise.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q857WaBZfXU/WnjsZv89ePI/AAAAAAAAJdY/ksGiXYwD_HEo7UJ0YNdYO-J-YxXZvMf3wCLcBGAs/s1600/google_home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="550" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q857WaBZfXU/WnjsZv89ePI/AAAAAAAAJdY/ksGiXYwD_HEo7UJ0YNdYO-J-YxXZvMf3wCLcBGAs/s200/google_home.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Home Original</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Along comes Amazon's Alexa devices, as Amazon wasn't in Australia the time and you had to purchase all devices from overseas it put me off the Amazon devices for that reason alone. I waited for the Google devices as I am in that ecosystem anyway, so it was the obvious choice considering Amazon had totally disregarded Australia. Anyway I waited until the first discounted prices started to appear for the genuine Australian model with our Aussie plug standard without having to buy an adaptor. I did think to myself I need to at least get a few compatible devices that could be operated by voice through the Google Home, I wanted to make a start on my Smart Home future right off the bat.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cl2pSQRxsL8/WnjtK4anOfI/AAAAAAAAJdg/SyuP4POEGoslMmIHPj8xQvaQYWvi0H5XgCLcBGAs/s1600/ghm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="203" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cl2pSQRxsL8/WnjtK4anOfI/AAAAAAAAJdg/SyuP4POEGoslMmIHPj8xQvaQYWvi0H5XgCLcBGAs/s1600/ghm.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google Home Mini</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I basically spent about $500 at the start including the Google Home, I also bought two <a href="https://www.lifx.com.au/" target="_blank">LIFX</a> colour LED Globes, I waited for those to be discounted as well, any discount was a bonus, for the globes I also bought two very cheap but acceptable Floor Lamps, two for about $30, as I have fairly archaic light fittings in my rented premises I felt it was the best option, plus the fittings in my rental are enclosed with covers that don't really allow air flow to dissipate heat, not that LEDs generate much heat at all, but lamps are movable so they can be placed anywhere you want, rather than be constrained by 1970s electrical fitters that placed them where they thought light fittings should be placed. LIFX have many different types of globes now, I bought the A19 globes x2 and I now have 1 x LIFX Mini Colour Globe donated by a friend for some help I had given him to set these bad boys up. I'll just ad an image of the A19 globes I bought first. I was also very fortunate to score a Google Mini from a good online friend from Western Australia who had purchased the recent two for one deal, thanks M ;)</div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PxqqE1VO-wY/WnjPgHPANPI/AAAAAAAAJck/lm683dlKc4gd36FngcbKyQRB5N8ME035QCLcBGAs/s1600/LIFX-Connected-Wi-Fi-Lighting-A19-Screw-Lamp-Bulb-Lit-Texture_1024x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="766" data-original-width="444" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PxqqE1VO-wY/WnjPgHPANPI/AAAAAAAAJck/lm683dlKc4gd36FngcbKyQRB5N8ME035QCLcBGAs/s200/LIFX-Connected-Wi-Fi-Lighting-A19-Screw-Lamp-Bulb-Lit-Texture_1024x1024.jpg" width="115" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LIFX A19 LED</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.lifx.com.au/products/lifx" target="_blank">LIFX A19 LED Light</a></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>The next device/s I wanted was Smart Plugs so I would have the ability to control electrical appliances, for example fans and my Receiver/Amp, I chose the TP-Link brand of Smart Plugs, well I really didn't have much choice, they were the only plugs I could purchase that were legit Australian certified and compatible, the Belkin Wemo Smart Plugs were not available when I was looking and they don't seem to be available still, so TP-Link's it was, they're great they work exactly as described, all voice activated and compatible with Google Home.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J2ghlm0AwbU/WnjSHEzfF0I/AAAAAAAAJc0/D5dGMokADMgMootgAXEY0d3_265gEjJ4ACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/HS100%2528AU%2529-1.0-package_1480336894196v.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="388" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J2ghlm0AwbU/WnjSHEzfF0I/AAAAAAAAJc0/D5dGMokADMgMootgAXEY0d3_265gEjJ4ACPcBGAYYCw/s200/HS100%2528AU%2529-1.0-package_1480336894196v.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TP-Link HS-100</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tp-link.com/au/products/details/cat-5258_HS100.html" target="_blank">TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Plug - HS100</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"></div></div><div>I already had a Google Chromecast first generation HDMI "dongle", which I was already using often to access Netflix and Stan Video Streaming that I controlled with either my Android tablet or Mobile phone, I was looking forward to controlling them by voice with my new Google Home and what a pleasure it is.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TkhwByAVmCI/Wnjfc7ENUtI/AAAAAAAAJdA/4Zw97R06dDU91gOWHhbq5ucmZI1r018ywCLcBGAs/s1600/chromecast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="619" height="101" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TkhwByAVmCI/Wnjfc7ENUtI/AAAAAAAAJdA/4Zw97R06dDU91gOWHhbq5ucmZI1r018ywCLcBGAs/s200/chromecast.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st Gen Chromecast<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I also waited for the Chromecast Audio to go on sale, so I could play music from Google Play Music that I had uploaded, the CA was connected to my Receiver/Amp, of course you can also play music through the Google Home, but when you really want to get jiggy with it you can't beat running your music streaming through an Amplifier, but make no mistake the Google Home has decent sound for the size that it is.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IEYRFqYCRTU/WnjgXgtgOgI/AAAAAAAAJdI/xffpPjCri0cosH-Z3bkfPNLGixOSJDRnACLcBGAs/s1600/google_chromecast_audio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IEYRFqYCRTU/WnjgXgtgOgI/AAAAAAAAJdI/xffpPjCri0cosH-Z3bkfPNLGixOSJDRnACLcBGAs/s200/google_chromecast_audio.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chromecast Audio<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />My next purchase has been the Broadlink RM3 Black Bean Mini, these are made in China and don't seem to have a Australian Distributor so generally you're going to have it shipped from China, I will link to where I bought it from on Ebay, many people are selling them so the link is more so to show a picture of what it is and an approximate price you will pay, they can be had for a cheaper price but just under $27 was fine by me and I wanted it when I wanted it, I could not be bothered waiting to save $5.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmIKf3xzLxg/WnjNS5GH3dI/AAAAAAAAJcc/x94w2SgKdmYi_q_4SK0I2NRzvdRIgUuVwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Black_Bean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="502" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmIKf3xzLxg/WnjNS5GH3dI/AAAAAAAAJcc/x94w2SgKdmYi_q_4SK0I2NRzvdRIgUuVwCPcBGAYYCw/s200/Black_Bean.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broadlink Black Bean</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BroadLink-RM-mini3-Smart-Home-Automation-Wireless-Remote-Controller-User-Defined-/282585401745" target="_blank">Broadlink RM3 Black Bean</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div>I received my Broadlink RM3 mini Black Bean "remote", I had a little difficulty setting it up but was just minor things where I was on the wrong track. eg. it didn't like my 64 character wifi key (I don't have special characters just 64 letters and numbers) anyway I got around that by creating a guest network with a simpler password.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>Then I just couldn't get the Broadlink Black Bean device to link with Google Home the app just kept booting me out back to login details, after a lot of head scratching I tried linking it through "Google assistant" on my Android Mobile and it linked straight away and of course it showed up in the Google Home app after that. I have no idea why it wouldn't link via the google home app, but que sera it linked and without that I was going nowhere.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>I can now control my Aircon, Receiver/Amp and TV by voice from Google Home. I'm using the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.com.broadlink.econtrol.plus&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">Broadlink IHC app</a> to set the parameters and commands, very easy once you give it a go. Basically the one I got the Broadlink Black Bean, can control IR, Infrared signals, luckily that's all I needed, it's big brother can control IR and RF, for the price of these things compared to say Logitech Harmony hubs, they are effing great.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>To tell you the truth I didn't want to spend to much as technology goes so quickly, I'm sure my Pana Plasma must be getting close to the end of it's life so a new TV might have voice activation for it's functions anyway, but the Black Bean will still work great with my amp and Aircon.<br /><br /></div><div></div><div>This is where I got my Black Bean from and I paid a little more for it, but it came quite quickly and when I ask a couple of questions the seller answered quickly and had no problem with me returning it if there was a problem all in all a great shopping experience, you can get them cheaper than this price, but for $26 AUD odd, I'm over the moon it's so cheap for what it does, I'm quite amazed.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BroadLink-RM-mini3-Smart-Home-Automation-Wireless-Remote-Controller-User-Defined-/282585401745" target="_blank">Broadlink Blackbean from Ebay</a></div></div></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/LeZ3PaJKzjE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7383196 144.89925560000006-37.7508766 144.87908560000005 -37.725762599999996 144.91942560000007https://www.darinallanblog.com/2018/02/google-home-and-compatible-devices-on.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-87116373029133983552016-09-02T02:52:00.000+10:002016-11-17T08:07:07.829+11:00Lemtrada - Alemtuzumab Second Course of InfusionsI did my monthly Lemtrada blood and urine test yesterday and I just got the text to advise me<br />"all is well", this was my tenth month of blood monitoring since my first set of infusions, from memory I've had two "please check with your Neuro" texts, they ended up being some blood in my urine...so nothing serious and no further action taken. I must admit though that getting the "all clear" text does make me feel a little happier each month lol.<br /><br />Even though the second course of infusions won't happen for about another two months, I am thinking about the risks and possible issues that can occur, no doubt this will be on my mind until the second set of infusions are finished. Luckily the second set is only three days as opposed to five days with the first set of infusions. I guess that also means I will have steroids for the three days as well, the steroids do seem to lessen the infusion side effects although sleep patterns aren't the most restful when on the roids.<br /><br />I'll be staying at the medi-hotel at the Austin Hospital, each morning it's just a short walk to the infusion room and then eight hours of boredom while Alemtuzumab and various other chemicals are pumped into my vein, yes eight hours of extreme boredom, it's probably the thing I despise most, the boredom! Hopefully, because it's only three days of infusions, the cannula can stay in for the full three days without a change, if I'm lucky...yes I like everything to go smoothly lol.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4s/vPgdddu0Gy0xekuPoPtZ_KDnvrG-KF_mgCPcB/s1600/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4s/vPgdddu0Gy0xekuPoPtZ_KDnvrG-KF_mgCPcB/s640/screen480x480.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The one good thing is that at least it's not a new experience like it was last year, I at least know how it all works and what happens with this procedure, so that's a bonus. I must say that the first set of infusions went very smoothly, I had a million questions for the poor nurse who was organising it all for me, so the questions should lessen a little. I still don't know the exact date that this second set of Lemtrada infusions will take place, but it should be around the end of October.<br /><br />I won't be as nervous as I was the first time, but things can and do go wrong, so I'll read through all the possible issues again and be as prepared as I can be for whatever eventuates ;)<br /><br /><h3>Lemtrada Second Infusions Two Week Update</h3><div>Ok I'm a couple of days shy of two weeks, let's continue, the second course of Lemtrada Infusions went well, with no noticeable reactions or side effects, I'm thankful..., still it's early days after the infusions. Some of the side effects can show up months later.<br /><br />I've been taking it easy and taking my pre-meds, post-meds that I need to take, I'm down to one a day until the end of the month</div><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/hnMw9m0RULw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon VIC 3040, Australia-37.749 144.91200000000003-37.7741105 144.87165950000002 -37.723889500000006 144.95234050000005https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/09/lemtrada-alemtuzumab-second-course-of.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-12396505305520738692016-06-22T22:43:00.000+10:002018-08-21T08:32:10.962+10:00MeeMeep Absolutely Incompetent Never Again!<h2>Meemeep.com Crowdsourced Courier Company Review</h2><br />So I order a few things from Kmart, this was the first time I had ordered from their online store, everything was fine with the order process as it should be in this day and age of course. Then the delivery...little did I know my delivery was going to be made by some company called meemeep.com, if you ever order anything from anywhere demand they don't use this absolutely crap company.<br /><br />They use private drivers/people to fucking deliver your goods, what a load of crap, I didn't realise Kmart used this totally unprofessional incompetent business for deliveries, if I had known I wouldn't have ordered off them. I had never before heard of this meemeep crowdsourcing business before, but I have now and it's shit, in transit means we'll deliver your items whenever we feel like it, don't expect it on the same day as the "delivery is in transit notification" you get, that means nothing to these arseholes. They don't seem to have any control over their drivers, they offer zero help in finding out about your delivery and when it will arrive.<br /><br />They gave me the drivers phone number and said "you ring him"...so I did, of course it went to message bank, I left a message, and of course the incompetence continued, he never returned my call.<br /><br />It was "in transit" this morning, plenty of time for my delivery to be made, I've been waiting all day, I've watched the driver sit at Hoppers Crossing for about four hours not moving at all, while I'm here waiting and waiting and waiting. Now remember it's "in transit", the driver reached Hoppers Crossing around 12.00pm, plenty of time to make it to Essendon North, but nope he just sat there until the end of the working day, not moving any further at all.<br /><br />Here's some screenshots of the customer portal<br /><br /><i>The screenshot below shows the "red pin" that's where I am and the "blue pin" where the driver was from about 12.00pm until the end of the day, in Hoppers Crossing, while I'm still waiting for my delivery. There was no notification that the driver had stopped for the longest lunch in history, I had to use the online chat, to find out what was happening and they didn't have a clue either, that's when they gave me the supposedly driver's mobile number which just went to voicemail!</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lvfVdbEALKo/V2qBdxR_bTI/AAAAAAAAH9o/50BjHim_P6QgZTCNGUYZbGMFB26eIstMgCLcB/s1600/meemeep_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lvfVdbEALKo/V2qBdxR_bTI/AAAAAAAAH9o/50BjHim_P6QgZTCNGUYZbGMFB26eIstMgCLcB/s640/meemeep_01.png" width="640" /></a></div><i><br /></i><i>The following screenshot shows the name/handle the driver uses, the mobile number listed is not the one they gave me to ring him on!</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShiOkzzBx3Y/V2qDog5C1hI/AAAAAAAAH90/UdP6F0VUjdkFo51UyHiH6U1RxxTUs5e5ACLcB/s1600/MeeMeep_02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShiOkzzBx3Y/V2qDog5C1hI/AAAAAAAAH90/UdP6F0VUjdkFo51UyHiH6U1RxxTUs5e5ACLcB/s640/MeeMeep_02.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I've contacted Kmart to voice my displeasure with the MeeMeep courier, I told them if I had known my delivery was going to be made by some third grade courier service I would never have agreed and would've cancelled the order, but they don't tell you who the courier will be before or after checkout and you've paid the money. If this is the future of couriers, god fucking help us! Even though I've had one particular Auspost courier who was absolute shit, the other 99% Auspost drivers are wonderful.<br /><br />So if all goes to plan my delivery will now be made by Auspost, when they say "In Transit" it actually means something, unlike MeeMeep.com. I despise these new pop up businesses that crap on about how good they are at what they do, yet they are nothing like what they claim to be. The only "beef" I have with Kmart is that they are stupid enough to use incompetence like MeeMeep.com, seriously do companies like Kmart actually test these services out, or do they just believe the bullshit blindly, I can't fathom how a service like this is good for business, for Kmart themselves, it has to reflect badly upon Kmart, surely!<br /><br />Now just note, the MeeMeep driver accepted the bid for a door to door delivery, why did he if he can't fulfil the job, why did he stop work at 12.00pm instead of working a full working day, what the fuck is wrong with people these days? If either the driver or customer service actually let me know that the delivery was now not going to happen I could have had at least four less wasted hours of my day, none of this would have been a problem, but neither gave me the courtesy of any helpful communication, which meant I was stuck at home all day waiting for a delivery they knew would not be arriving, it's disrespectful and I despise being disrespected by incompetent companies that have my money for a service they espouse to provide, one phone call, is all it takes to appease most people, me included...<br /><br />I couldn't have made it any easier considering I actually rang the driver on the number that customer service gave to me, if only the driver had picked up and answered the call or rang back and replied to the message I left, oh well, they had more than enough chances to make things right, but alas, their incompetence shone through, I guess they errr, won? Bear in mind that the meemeep customer service also couldn't contact their own driver, it does make one wonder if they have any control over their drivers at all, I mean, why would the driver ignore a call from meemeep itself, their employer?<br /><br /><b>Product Review</b><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;georgia&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.productreview.com.au/r/meemeep/1002054.html">http://www.productreview.com.au/r/meemeep/1002054.html</a><br /><br />It's rather hilarious that the same day the CEO of Meemeep.com was asking to contact me to "have a chat" my product review got a little friend, one more review, the username of that new product review is "Jdub", now scroll down and read the only comment on this blog post, it's by the CEO of Meemeep.com "Justin W" quite a coincidence... I'll quote the new review on PR of meemeep.com with a screenshot of the review by "Jdub".<br /><br />It's worth noting that my review of meemeep is a "Verified Purchase" review, "Jdubs" is not a "Verified Purchase" review lmao.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g-juciV98lY/V6p_WJ7Iq6I/AAAAAAAAILc/ASPWVyJ3B0YNxrMykAzobnDVtQ2DqVGVgCLcB/s1600/jdub_meemeep.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g-juciV98lY/V6p_WJ7Iq6I/AAAAAAAAILc/ASPWVyJ3B0YNxrMykAzobnDVtQ2DqVGVgCLcB/s640/jdub_meemeep.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Not really a genuine independent review that we have here, ooh sending a case of wine to a colleague well ladi fucking la... note the date, the amount of reviews of this Jdub and let's not forget the username... It's the courier service company that keeps on giving...bullshit that is!<br /><br />The CEO (Justin W) and I did have a chat on the phone, he seemed like a reasonable fellow, he apologised to me and yes I let him "have it" about the service that I had received and just how incompetent and pathetic it was by the "driver" and the "customer service" drone that I dealt with.<br /><br />His apology really means nothing though, he didn't even know about the driver's incompetence until two months after it happened...like most CEO's they are too busy sending cases of wine to their mates but wouldn't have a fucking clue what goes on in the day to day running of their businesses!<br /><br />They wonder why customers have no loyalty to a business these days, well it's real simple, do the fucking job you're paid to do and treat your customers with respect and don't fuck them around, it really isn't that difficult, yet so many businesses just can't grasp that concept...or they just don't care!<br /><br />The following image is a screenshot of the only comment made on this blog, I just want to save it in case it "disappears"...<br /><br />Something else to note, you'll see in the "screenshotted" image of the CEO's comment directly below, the only piece of text that has brackets around it, is,&nbsp;<b>(not crowd sourced). </b>Now go down to the next screenshot, there it says the courier <b>Driver4M</b> is indeed a <b>CROWDSOURCED COURIER </b>pmsl ;)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3f5N5UxIYxc/V6qISijOvvI/AAAAAAAAILs/AylbUD83_TUtfQEoGxP5MawQtvfrYGSjwCLcB/s1600/justinw_meemeep_blog_comment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3f5N5UxIYxc/V6qISijOvvI/AAAAAAAAILs/AylbUD83_TUtfQEoGxP5MawQtvfrYGSjwCLcB/s640/justinw_meemeep_blog_comment.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PrI4CdXNIfU/WBUy2q9p-_I/AAAAAAAAISM/TRNdyGuy9o4QgtlElETGfwibqPrUHsbkACLcB/s1600/meemeep_crowd_source.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PrI4CdXNIfU/WBUy2q9p-_I/AAAAAAAAISM/TRNdyGuy9o4QgtlElETGfwibqPrUHsbkACLcB/s640/meemeep_crowd_source.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Apparently Kogan are using meemeep for deliveries over the Christmas period, I have spoken to Kogan customer service and they too are sick of the meemeep complaints, apparently they will be reviewing whether they use meemeep (let's hope they don't), they're probably sick of the incompetence and lies that many are voicing about meemeep.com on the <a href="http://www.productreview.com.au/p/meemeep.html" target="_blank">product review page I started about meemeep</a>, so many reviews in fact that meemeep have had to "manage" the complaints on product review, Kogan customer service said to let them know if you didn't want your delivery to be made by meemeep.com, that's great, it means I can continue to buy stuff from Kogan, it seems they have been using meemeep in the busy Christmas time so let's hope that doesn't continue...<br /><br /><b>Update</b>: 20-08-2018<br /><br />Well, well, it seems Meemeep.com has disappeared from the face of the earth, their website is gone without a trace, no "wind up" information page as to why they have disappeared, no nothing that can be found by searching Google anyway. The negative reviews continued on the Product Review website unabated, well except for many bullshit positive reviews (maybe 5 were real from the twenty or so positive reviews) that just couldn't keep up to quell the negative ones. It seems at least one of their couriers was not advised of Meemeep closing their "doors" as one courier was quite pissed that no information was provided, I wonder if they told any other drivers?<br /><br />The fact is though it seemed that the biggest clients of this "company" were Kmart and Kogan, with many people stating that they will never use either of these two businesses if they used Meemeep to deliver their purchases, yes customers were contacting K&amp;K to let them know this, I know Kmart dropped them fairly quickly, though I think Kogan used them a little longer, Meemeep definitely brought this upon themselves with their incompetence which was well documented on the Product Review website. Anyway all I can say is I'm glad another incompetent business that had zero customer service skills and even worse, couldn't deliver one's purchases in a timely, professional manner has bitten the dust, this is one time the power of the purchasers has had a win!<br /><br />Good riddance Meemeep, you deserved everything you got, it definitely wasn't unexpected...<br />I'll leave one final screenshot from PR, the most recent two posts and no doubt the final two posts ever!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TI2FLsAVLeg/W3msA99815I/AAAAAAAAKws/A4WurPQSIFoEFzOzu_ZhVCpt0kDzYVLNgCLcBGAs/s1600/meemeep_dead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="811" height="568" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TI2FLsAVLeg/W3msA99815I/AAAAAAAAKws/A4WurPQSIFoEFzOzu_ZhVCpt0kDzYVLNgCLcBGAs/s640/meemeep_dead.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/yEBGDrQrkyA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.comEssendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7383196 144.89925560000006-37.7508766 144.87908560000005 -37.725762599999996 144.91942560000007https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/06/meemeep-absolutely-incompetent-never.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-59885967191778100442016-03-03T13:24:00.001+11:002016-03-21T14:40:32.398+11:00Diet and Exercise Still Going Strong<h2>Knocking on the Door - 100 Kilograms (220lbs)</h2><br />I've now lost about 10 kilograms (22lbs) in weight, I'm walking a distance of about 4.0 kilometres (about 2.5 miles) a day, it varies but hovers around that distance, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, I generally have one "sloth" day each week, usually on a Sunday, where I do virtually nothing, except for eating the right way of course, that's everyday. My walking has definitely improved, if my phone's step counter is accurate, I'm doing about 5,000 - 6,000 steps a day.<br /><br />If I take rubbish out to the bin I take the long way around, so that helps to add to my daily steps, that's why it varies, though I always get the 5,000 steps from my morning walk. The rest is usually low intensity walking, my morning walk is where I "push it" a bit harder. I'm doing five laps of "my block" and try to do that in the morning. If I go for my walk close to bed time I am too "wired" to sleep and have the energy to stay up most of the night, which of course negates the benefit of a good nights sleep...<br /><br />I've been adding more variation to my diet, all Paleo Diet approved foods, I generally have Salad with Sardines or bacon or salmon or whatever meat I have thawed for Breakfast, I now rarely have lunch, I might just have a snack like a boiled egg or two instead, occasionally I have three meals a day but it is occasional, not common at all, my appetite has definitely decreased. I have mostly stuck to my dinner meal of some kind of meat and steamed vegetables. My walking's improvement is less fatigue as I get "fitter" of course and my balance has also improved, I still do get some "foot drag" by the end of my morning walk, but it's on the last lap when the physical fatigue starts to kick in, yep I am pushing it so that's expected.<br /><br />My weight is at about 103 Kilograms (227lbs), I must say the lower your weight becomes, it seems the slower you lose it, but as I've said many times before I hope to make this a lifestyle change, but that 99 Kilogram mark is my next goal, it's a big goal lol, I haven't weighed below 100 Kilograms for a looong time ;). Just remember though, weight loss is the bonus, it's not the main goal, the main goal is to see how eating the Paleo way can benefit my MS and it's symptoms, so to realise the possible benefits of MS improvement, I will need to stick to the diet for quite a while. The weight loss period of this experiment is tangible, you can see the results as they're happening, the scales and how your clothes fit show the weight loss, you do feel the general health benefits as well, so there is no doubt about that aspect of the Paleo Diet when it comes to losing weight, it works and works quite quickly, so that's on track.<br /><br />The next part will be more difficult to prove or "see", it will be all about how I feel, it won't be easy to put into words, I think there has been some benefit on the Multiple Sclerosis/symptom front, but nothing that's happening is a large enough change to really talk about. I guess all I can really say is that I'm feeling quite well. I'm sure the eating better, the getting more sleep, sleeping longer and exercise all have something to do with that, but that's quite obvious really, it's bound to have a positive effect. I could probably say that all of this healthy living has seemed to improve my fatigue in the positive, even if I do get a minor afternoon MS crash, I might need to or want to lie down for half an hour to an hour, but I'm not falling asleep just having a lie down.<br /><br />I need to get some kind of "Fitness Band", I would like to be able to monitor my sleep, I have a feeling that even when I do seem to get say 6-8 hours sleep a night, I can't be certain if it's "good sleep" so I might just need to buy one of those fitness bands to see if it can shed some light on my sleep behaviour. I mention this because some days I wake up and get ready for my morning walk and it's like I'm overflowing with energy, then on other days it's a real struggle, I still do the walk, but there's a bit more "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonus" target="_blank">clonus</a>" symptoms and just a little more very minor foot dragging right from the start of the walk. I'm fairly sure that my nutrient intake is fine and I'm eating enough, so at this stage I have a feeling it's a lack of "good sleep".<br /><br />Oh the last "shop" I did for groceries I thought I would add some Berries, I bought Blackberries and Blueberries, the Blackberries are lower in Sugar, the Blueberries are slightly higher, I have to say even when eating the Berries, mainly the Blueberries, I did get a Sugar rush headache lol, seriously, I never had too many Blueberries I might have had 5-10 at a time maximum, as nice as they were, I think I'll stick to the Blackberries for an occasional treat, they seemed to be less headache inducing...weird eh?<br /><br /><b>My Tip:</b> People please give up Sugar filled drinks, eg. Coca-Cola and any fizzy drink that is full of Sugar, that also includes fruit juice, the concentrations of Sugars in Fruit juices is enormous, have a real orange etc. instead of it's concentrated Sugar filled juice!<br /><br /><i>This blog post is a tad all over the place, because I'm just cruising along, doing what I need to do and I just wanted to log my progress and let others know I'm still on the diet and exercise path ;)</i><br /><br />The Video below is an Interview with <a href="http://thepaleodiet.com/" target="_blank">Loren Cordain</a>, <i>the father of the Paleo Diet</i>, the guy asking the questions is <a href="https://thepaleoway.com/" target="_blank">Pete Evans</a>, he is an Australian Paleo Diet advocate and Chef.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7HxUBLsmCv8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7HxUBLsmCv8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o-Auvu6OL6A/VqysF-BE5sI/AAAAAAAAHSc/nPfufev_lnA/s1600/Caveman_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Paleo Diet" border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o-Auvu6OL6A/VqysF-BE5sI/AAAAAAAAHSc/nPfufev_lnA/s640/Caveman_1.jpg" title="Caveman Hunting" width="600" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/jpOSQoAnDKo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/03/diet-and-exercise-still-going-strong.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-49737222784800383992016-02-17T00:31:00.003+11:002016-02-17T10:53:59.263+11:00First Goal Achieved Paleo Diet and Exercising!<span style="font-size: large;">WooHoo, I'm just past the two month mark - Paleo Diet</span><br /><br />Why is this goal important to me? I have only ever made it to just under the two month mark previously, so I'm quite happy I've beaten my previous record, piss off, yes it is a big deal to me lol. Yep if you can bother to read my previous Paleo Diet blog posts, all I've really done is get back to where I ended up the last time I tried this diet, so no smart arse comments, it takes me a while to get my mind right, the planets also need to align perfectly to get into that head space that I need to be in to achieve results. As I've said before though this time I really do think I can possibly make this a lifestyle change that I can stick to. I won't hide my Paleo Journey "ups and downs" you can read all of my posts on the Paleo Diet at the link below...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.darinallanblog.com/search/label/paleo-diet" target="_blank">All blog posts tagged "Paleo Diet"</a><br /><br />When you get over or near the two month mark of eating the Paleo way and exercising, things really do start to fall into place, well this is the time frame for me anyway, we're all different though, you are now starting to see real noticeable results, weight loss, better sleep patterns, less fatigue, clearer mind, less fog in the brain and a better attitude and I'm walking a lot more these days, so I'm quite a bit fitter and my "gait" has improved out of sight. I promise you all these things that are happening are real, but honestly you'll never know unless you try the Paleo Diet yourself and do your best to exercise, whatever exercise you can do will help immensely, I have no doubt of that. I will say though, you really do need to stick to it strictly, especially in the early days in my opinion, the more strict you are the quicker you will see the positive benefits, but rest assured you will see results even if you can't do any exercise at all, it's true, you will benefit from eating the Paleo way!<br /><br />I'm becoming a bit of an expert on living and eating the Paleo way, more particularly, I have a good understanding of what you can and can't eat and how it all works, I guess that's what I know now, so it's pretty much second nature to me and that makes everything a lot easier. Having said that (don't you hate it when people use that term lol) I definitely don't know everything, but I continuously read and of course experience it while doing the diet. I have nearly finished "<a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Terry_Wahls_M_D_The_Wahls_Protocol?id=dWPl-lLUsvMC&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">The Wahls Protocol</a>" book by Terry Wahls, next chapter is the "Epilogue" so I figure I'm close to the end... I'll finish it up as soon as I can in the coming day or two. I must say that I always thought Terry's wonderful book was a much more stricter version of the Paleo Diet that I had ever done, not so, believe it or not, so I'm very happy and surprised by that, it means I've been doing it quite close to Terry's version.<br /><br />After reading "The Wahls Protocol" I have though learnt a lot more and will slowly incorporate some of her ideas and theories into how I'm eating, she also suggests some supplements that might be worthwhile adding to the diet. Though she does make it very clear that supplements are not the way to go, she fully believes in consuming the right foods and lots of them especially at the start, she lists everything and also has three versions for her Protocol, me, I pretty much jumped right into her most strictest version her "Paleo Plus Diet", though let me clarify my statement.<br /><br />&nbsp;I am not eating the exact same foods as Terrys strictest version, though I do only eat Paleo allowed foods and do follow quite a strict version, so I'm very close to her version, but she has given me a few aspects to think about, for example she doesn't recommend eating eggs, but she does qualify that statement with "if you are allergic or have a sensitivity to Eggs" she advises not to eat them, now I wouldn't have a clue whether I am or not, though as I said it has given me something to think about. I will probably try an experiment on myself, eg. I will "cut them out" of my diet at some stage (when I finish what eggs I still have left) for a couple of weeks, see how I go and how I feel then add eggs back to my diet and see if I can &nbsp;feel any difference.<br /><br />One difference I'd really like to get on board with is the consumption of "Organ Meat", yeah, never been a fan even though both my Mother and Father occasionally did eat "Organ Meats" when I was growing up, they never pushed them on us, in fact didn't even offer "their" delicacies to us at all, well not that I can remember anyway. I did see them cook these meats and eat them, I'm sure if I had asked for some they would have let me try them, I doubt I ever asked though lol. So I do have a few things I'd like to look into further and possibly try, but I'll definitely need to ease into organ meats and learn how to cook them etc.<br /><br />Hey I really do understand if people scoff at my improvements, I really do, but honestly I really don't care, I know what I'm feeling, I'm feeling great, I have no reason to lie as I'm not selling anything or getting any commissions, I've been on this journey for quite a while now, most of that has been reading and getting organised slowly to start eating Paleo allowed foods, when your not wealthy you can't just buy everything you need in one shopping trip and it's silly to throw out good edible albeit processed and sugar laden food and fill your cupboards with Paleo only. It all takes time, but you can definitely slowly work up to it and start adjusting.<br /><br />I promise you I have more money left over each week now more so than when I was consuming sugar laden processed non Paleo food stuffs. Oh and that's something I need to say, after the two month mark, your appetite lessens and you're not craving the crap you used to live on, sure you might say once a week crave something from your past poor eating habits, but seriously that craving disappears rather quickly, but it does pay to have something Paleo approved to eat if you're hungry of course, just in case, rather than being caught short and buying some quick and easy processed food from some shop, just be prepared, don't slip into old eating habits!<br /><br />Oh I should say as well, I do get most of my meat and vegetables from "supermarkets" yes you're right, strictly Paleo food is Grass Fed Meat and Organic Veggies, you're absolutely right, but at the moment at least I can't easily source or afford these foods, but I will, the main Paleo bonus I'm benefiting from at the moment is weight loss, I want to mainly concentrate on that first, get my weight down while feeling better whilst doing it. As I eat less I will have more money to spend on the best kind of meat and vegetables, Grass Fed and Organic respectively, I am feeling heaps better and once the weight is off I hope to feel even better when I can source and afford better produce.<br /><br />Don't get discouraged or give up on Paleo eating just because you can't be 100% Paleo perfect with what you consume with the meat and veggies, you really will feel much better regardless, hang in there and look for discounts and specials, go to farmers markets, buy cheaper cuts of Grass Fed meat or Organic veggies that are bruised, you know what I mean, be smart, grow your own veggies, just do your best with what you can achieve, it won't be a waste of time, just aspire to buying better quality Grass fed Meat and Organic Vegetables when you can ;)<br /><br />My walking is up to about five thousand steps, well that's my goal and I'm making that goal if not more, I do try and have one slow day at least each week, some times even two, but I usually at least do about 1500 steps on those days, just to keep the legs active and I really am in the mode of walking everyday, like I really feel like I have to do it, it's a good place mentally to be in. You never know I might just make it to 10,000 after all, but I am hurting after doing five laps around "my block" which I've just started doing, the worst thing is it takes me about an hour, that's time I could be relaxing lol!<br /><br />After reading Terry Wahls book and discussing my blog posts with others on Google Plus, I have started to eat more salad type vegetables and cutting back a little on steamed hot food veggies, this gives me a bit of a change and more variety, I have also been eating a lot more Coconut Oil and "good" oils with the salads as well, the Coconut Oil doesn't taste too bad at all, I'm getting used to it and enjoying it more, it's just different, maybe a little sweet tasting, but eh, I think my taste buds are "shot" anyway after a previous exacerbation, though I can "taste" my food more clearly now though, I guess when you haven't eaten sugar or carbs for about two months things are bound to change and they have. Oh and yes as I mentioned on my last blog post I'm eating a max of two meals a day and yes some times just one meal a day with a small snack, my appetite has decreased lots...<br /><br />Long ago now I started getting ready for doing the Paleo Diet while I was reading up on it all, I started getting rid of Non Paleo foods, by throwing them out, giving them away or just finishing what I had left, I stopped eating bread long ago apart from the very odd Servo sandwich, which were sometimes quite odd indeed...I haven't had sugar laden McDonalds or Kentucky fried Chicken for years now, I do remember having just one cheeseburger around the start of November 2015, but apart from that I've abstained from that horrid stuff they call food for quite a while now.<br /><br />The one fast food place I do use is Red Rooster, I only occasionally eat their whole Chickens (only) and occasionally their Chicken Salads, I don't use their dressing. Occasionally I'll buy a supermarket BBQ chicken as well, but that's about the extent of consuming any fast food type "foods". The Cheeseburger I had was purchased on the way home after the five days Lemtrada Treatment, eh, give me a break, it was just one cheeseburger and no chips or drinks ;)<br /><br /><i>Oh I have now finished the Terry Wahls Protocol book, yes I do recommend it, she eases you into eating the Paleo Way and explains everything as you go, you don't need to buy the book everything you need to know can be found on the interwebs, but it is a handy guide that is well worth having so you can refer back to it while giving the Paleo Diet a red hot go. Her advice is wonderful and she has some great tips in the book, yes it has some graphs, lists, testimonies and advice, Terry explains it all and she takes you through her own personal journey.</i><br /><i><br /></i><a href="https://plus.google.com/+FoodAsMedicine/posts" target="_blank">Terry Wahls on Google Plus</a>&nbsp;you can find her web site and more info at this link.<br /><br />My next goal is to get below the 100 Kilogram (220 lbs) mark, I'm nearly there, just a few more Kilos to go!<br /><br /><i>I will of course edit any mistakes in the text above after it's published, cos that's how I roll...</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xWRNwAjPOb4/VsMhzDL1WSI/AAAAAAAAHUU/-hqyZmSyKy0/s1600/Caveman_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="611" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xWRNwAjPOb4/VsMhzDL1WSI/AAAAAAAAHUU/-hqyZmSyKy0/s640/Caveman_5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caveman Family</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/QIUHeSsx8Bk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon VIC 3040, Australia-37.755337 144.917282-37.780447499999994 144.8769415 -37.7302265 144.9576225https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/02/first-goal-achieved-paleo-diet-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-15385391421516564772016-02-10T00:05:00.002+11:002016-02-10T00:08:54.608+11:00Lemtrada - Three Months After First Infusions<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lemtrada - Three months since Infusions</b></span><br /><br />It's now a little over three months since I had my first course (5x) of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions, luckily none of the possible nasty side effects have reared their ugly heads, whew! I'm happy with that, though some of the side effects can show up years later from memory, at least I haven't been someone who had immediate problems tolerating this infusion treatment, so far in my life I have been lucky in that I seem to tolerate drugs quite well, though I've never been under a general anaesthetic so I have no idea how I'd go with that...please don't assume I'm gloating, it's a thought that definitely runs through my mind occasionally because I get a "monitoring" blood test every month and then you wait for the "all clear", from the phone app or email they deliver, just a tad nervously lol.<br /><br />The list of possible Lemtrada side effects you read about and are made well aware of before you decide to do the infusions are not just minor afflictions, they can be quite serious. I won't list the possible side effects here, I will just link to a FDA pdf and you can read them there, I'll put the whole link so you can see it's on the FDA website, click the link below. Like any drug though, every possible side effect has to be listed, though hopefully because of all the trials and testing they do on Humans before bringing the drug to market, the side effects should be minimal in occurrence, hopefully... I'd rather link to an official source, rather than get them wrong and scare people even more than they already might be and I've listed some of them before in previous posts...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM426512.pdf">http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM426512.pdf</a><br /><br />The Nurses and Neurologists should give you some official literature from the drug company that markets/makes the drug as well, so stick to those rather than blogs, then you'll have the official list of Symptoms! Then by all means go read everything you can on the web, in blogs if that pleases you, but check with your Neurologist if you have any questions, don't be silent, we're not all the same, some people seem to get side effects from every drug they take and with a personal "one off" side effect that some one might have experienced, it could be just that, a "one off" that has nothing to do with Lemtrada as such. We are told to report any problems we have to our medicos, so they can keep an eye on things and no doubt the Neurologists document everything and provide feed back to the drug company, well that's my guess anyway.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.lemtrada.com/" target="_blank">Official Lemtrada Home Page</a><br /><br />Now back to my post infusion three month experience, &nbsp;everything seems to be fine, in fact I'm feeling quite well overall so I don't think Lemtrada has had any negative effects on my health, of course I really can't say it's had any positive effects either, well nothing noticeable anyway. When I was in the early stages of the pre treatment stage I did ask lots of questions and did read quite a bit about the drug and people's experiences. I would then ask the Nurse's or Neuro's for the "right" answer of claims that were made etc. or if they heard of anyone experiencing this or that, yes I am one who does ask a lot of questions when I am not clear on something.<br /><br />I've written before that there might be some favourable "maybes" about possible positive Lemtrada effects, but they are just "my feelings" they are not scientifically tested, you can read back through my blogs about "what I think" if you like, but there has been no amazing benefits that I feel have occurred. I just hope I don't have another exacerbation, or they find any more lesions on the brain in the future, if I have no more problems, hopefully that means Lemtrada is doing its job, well that's the plan anyway ;)<br /><br />I remember asking the main Nurse who was looking after me (I still annoy her with the odd question lol) if they had heard any possible benefits from any of the Lemtrada infusion recipients under their care. She told me no, nothing that they can prove, but she did say that some of us Lemtradians, some call us Lemmies (that's too close to "lemmings" for my liking lol) did find a greater sense of confidence, I asked "how so" she explained that a few have had a greater sense of confidence and have taken to improving their overall health and well being, for instance eating better, exercising and well, just living their lives.<br /><br />I myself am doing exactly that now as well, so I understand where the other Lemtradian's are coming from. Maybe we're doing this because of the drug's possible side effects, being the healthiest you can be has to help if the "side effect shit hits the fan" surely, or the cost of the drug is huge and we appreciate that we get it for free in Australia's public health system or maybe not having to take some other form of drug regularly gives us time to consider our futures, who knows, but it is interesting nonetheless.<br /><br />So in closing and in summary, all is well three months after my first set of Lemtrada infusions, I hope it stays that way, I will definitely write a blog post about it if things go pear shaped, oh one more thing, yeah the monthly blood tests are a pain in the arse, but eh, far better for them to be "on top" of any problems quickly rather than later when it's too late to treat the problem. I know people want to hear wonderful life changing news, but I'm just telling it how it is for me, honestly and without the bullshit or possible placebo effects that one may experience, I am feeling better, but I honestly suspect that is from the diet and exercising I have undertaken lately and am still doing, from my own personal experience if someone asked me if I think they should have Lemtrada as a treatment, I would say, Go for it! ;)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.darinallanblog.com/search/label/lemtrada" target="_blank">Link to all of my Lemtrada tagged Blog posts</a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4s/gc_WnZWy2cQ/s1600/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4s/gc_WnZWy2cQ/s640/screen480x480.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/IitVzpUHeyw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon VIC 3040, Australia-37.755337 144.917282-37.780447499999994 144.8769415 -37.7302265 144.9576225https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/02/lemtrada-three-months-after-first.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-17221896502741164992016-01-31T01:22:00.003+11:002016-09-16T06:46:41.356+10:00Diet and Exercise<span style="font-size: large;">Diet and Exercise - Week Six!</span><br /><br />I'm into about week six of eating better and exercising, the results are slowly starting to show, the most obvious are weight loss and my gait (walking) and general fitness, even though my walking has improved heaps, I still don't necessarily feel really safe walking, but I guess you become more critical of yourself because of one's memory of how it used to be, the walking has helped me to lift my right leg which is the main one that causes me issues, at one stage both legs inability to walk saw me end up in a wheelchair for two to three months, though the left leg pretty much fully recovered, the right leg didn't.<br /><br />The right leg is always the one to drag on the ground first when I am fatigued from exertion or lack of sleep, it's usually the one that I will trip over the thin air with, that's slowly getting better now that I'm exercising by walking. I'm up to very recently, as in yesterday, starting to walk around "my block" three times in the morning and once at night, that equals about 3.2 kilometres as the distance around "my block" is 800 metres. I'm absolutely stuffed by the third time around in the morning. Four times around is more than five thousand steps going by <a href="https://fit.google.com/u/0/" target="_blank">Google Fit</a>, they say us humans should be walking around 10,000 steps a day, whether I make it to that many, I'm not sure, but I can say one thing, I'm walking each day much further than I ever have after the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis was thrust upon me...<br /><br />Eating the right foods is still going fine, yes I'm getting bored of course, though I am getting used to it and food is starting to taste better, I'm finding if I prepare some meals beforehand so that I just need to microwave them, this helps me to stick the the diet and helps with my fatigue. I prepare the steam vegetables and cook the meat when I'm ready to eat, of course if I have bacon and eggs that needs to be fried when I want, no reheating. I order my food on line and have it delivered, maybe one day I'll walk to the supermarket, but you can only carry so much, so I might need to wait until I can do a couple or three trips in a day...<br /><br />With the food consumption I'm very slowly starting to get to the point where I'm not feeling hungry all the time, I haven't done it yet but I'm starting to get that hint of not feeling like two or three meals a day, this doesn't mean that's how I will end up living, on one meal a day, but it does mean I'm no longer following the "normal" breakfast, lunch and dinner mantra that we've all had drummed into us since we were "younguns". I'm starting to get to the stage of only eating when I am truly hungry, before I felt compelled to eat at each of those time honoured meal "times" to consume the food I eat.<br /><br />If I feel hungry in the morning after my walk, I'll eat, quite often now though I don't feel hungry until around lunch time. I'm also happy that I can add two more frozen vegetables to the mix, I will now be adding kale and mushrooms to my list of frozen foods that I can include in my diet. So at the moment I'm only eating two to three healthy meals a day (though mostly only two meals a day), with the odd snack here and there, e.g. boiled egg etc.<br /><br />Frozen vegetables are so much easier for a single person and someone who can't easily just "nick" down the shop for extras if they run out or what you do have has spoiled before you had a chance to eat it. So now the list of frozen vegetables has grown from six to eight, these are vegetables that are "allowed" on the Paleo diet of course, so you're a little more limited in your meal choices. Of course meals vary though not by much at this stage, the following is a list of frozen vegetables I can now get from the supermarket I order from (Coles).<br /><br /><b>List of Paleo Diet approved frozen Vegetables</b><br /><b><i>I can buy the following veggies from Coles Supermarket on line</i></b><br /><i>Brussel Sprouts</i><br /><i>Broccoli</i><br /><i>Cauliflower</i><br /><i>Spinach</i><br /><i>Kale</i><br /><i>Pumpkin</i><br /><i>Carrots</i><br /><i>Mushrooms</i><br /><i><br /></i>Most of these frozen vegetables are "Coles Brand" so they are reasonably priced, I figure they can't "mess" with vegetables all that much, hopefully...a few are "brands" so I'm spreading the consumerism love, in my own little way lol.<br /><br />There are more frozen vegetables that are Paleo approved, though I've never had them before at all so I need to do some research on how to cook the buggers and get a sense of what they taste like. Yes even though frozen vegetables can be more expensive, I very rarely waste vegetables now, so I'm confident I'm saving money more so than when buying fresh. I would probably be a lot more efficient as in wastage nowadays if I was buying fresh, because I am eating more healthily so the fresh veggies would be getting used, but they say frozen can actually be better than fresh anyway so that's perfect for me.<br /><br />I do buy some fresh vegetables for a slow cooker meal I make, but they get used the same day or next day that I buy them, one example in particular is Mushrooms, I buy two punnet's of sliced fresh Mushies, celery, onions and carrots for that slow cooker meal, but the frozen ones will be perfect for breakfast with bacon and eggs if I have that meal. Even though I want to make this Diet and Exercise regime a lifestyle change, my immediate goal is to "crack" three months (I did two months last time) and move on from there, after that, six months, then twelve, that is of course if all goes well and there is a noticeable benefit, regardless I do plan on keeping sugar consumption in "check" by doing my best to eliminate it from my diet altogether as I'm doing right now!<br /><br />I'm trying to add different types of healthy foods, for instance apart from a couple of new frozen veggies, I'm looking at seafood that has high amounts of good oil, I already try to consume at least some fresh Salmon at least once a week, sometimes more, but this week I have stocked up on some Sardines that are canned with Olive Oil, I hope to add these to some kind of Salad concoction that will also have added "good" Paleo approved "Oils" like Olive Oil and Macadamia Oil (maybe even some avocado oil) both of which I already have.<br /><br />I've been a bit hesitant to do salads after having the MS drug treatment Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) because of possible <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/food-poisoning-listeria" target="_blank">Listeria</a> bacteria infection from lettuces, it's in the Lemtrada literature of possible infections one needs to be careful of, yes maybe a bit OTT, but hey I am Male and I admit my cleanliness is not always "top notch" and when I'm advised to do something or be careful of something because of a depleted Immune system, I am especially careful. Lemtrada has some possible nasty side effects so I have upped the cleanliness, but is it enough lmao! I'm fairly sure my MS is from having a great and efficient immune system hehe, I've trained it well over many years of germ abuse, I've rarely been ill in my life and rarely get infections, unlike some people who have been brought up in very sterile environments and seem to get every bug and infection that's available.<br /><br />Just remember many MSer's can most likely do at least some exercise even if they are confined to a wheelchair and most can eat better to improve their health, it may mean that the whole family needs to get on board and get with the program, as in help the MSer in their life to achieve these things but surely our loved ones, if they really do love us, will have no problem with helping us achieve this goal. I personally live alone so I need to do my best to keep my MS exacerbations at bay as I have no family that live close by and boy do I love my independence, so that's one of the main reasons I'm doing this exercising and adjusting my diet to a much healthier way to eat, will it work, well I'm guessing it has to have some benefit at the very least. I've let my general health decline, I need to rectify that ;)<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o-Auvu6OL6A/VqysF-BE5sI/AAAAAAAAHSY/YejCBNHYCDs/s1600/Caveman_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o-Auvu6OL6A/VqysF-BE5sI/AAAAAAAAHSY/YejCBNHYCDs/s640/Caveman_1.jpg" width="600" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caveman!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><h4>Paleo Diet Information</h4>Main <b>Paleo Diet</b> page, more information at link below.<br /><a href="http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet">http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet</a><br /><br /><b>Sugar</b> is <b>Bad</b> for <b>You</b>!<br /><a href="http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet/sugar-is-bad-for-you">http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet/sugar-is-bad-for-you</a><br /><br />I've <b>Quit Sugar</b>!<br /><a href="http://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/01/ive-quit-sugar.html">http://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/01/ive-quit-sugar.html</a><br /><br /><h4></h4><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/hrMbLRsLRLI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/01/diet-and-exercise.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-67498351586992529622016-01-22T15:19:00.000+11:002016-01-26T10:17:55.385+11:00I've Quit Sugar!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I'm on the third week of "No Sugar" I started around Christmas day, I thought it best not to make a new years resolution, us humans rarely stick to those, me especially, too much pressure...<br /><br />I have decided to strictly adhere to the Paleo Diet once again, though I won't be going into detail about that diet as such, I've said it all before, on this blog and in numerous posts on G+. I think the sugar cessation with Paleo might just be the the "thing" that helps the most when it comes to well being, nevertheless I will adhere to the Paleo guidelines strictly as I have never felt better since having MS and eating the Paleo way. I'm actually quite sick of talking about Paleo stuff as most just can't or won't attempt it or even read about it and if they do look into it they cringe in horror and then starting saying things like "I could never just eat all meat" I then immediately know they've never looked into it at all, I then know they read and blindly believe what hack journalist's articles espouse as truth, yeah the "journalist" didn't really look into it either, and so the bullshit flows from one person to the next.<br /><br />The simple truth is that the Paleo Diet is difficult, very difficult, I'd prefer them just to say "nah not for me" and leave it at that and just leave me to carry on with the way I want to eat for my health and Multiple Sclerosis, most do of course, but some people are "know alls" yet never really look closely into anything they proclaim to be an expert on, or not, it's the nature of the internet of course. I'll help anyone that wants to change if I can, though very few actually do want to. So now I just give them some hints on where to look for good info and wait for them to get back to me if they want to know more, none have, well actually two have and even started to eat the Paleo way and even saw some decent weight loss results (weight loss is the bonus), though never stuck with it long enough to see the positives that eating right can have on one's MS symptoms and their severity, which really is a shame for them, eh, life goes on!<br /><br />So now I'm just going to talk about Quitting Sugar to other people while still doing my Paleo thing, although I won't be talking about it all that much on G+ or to friends that don't want to hear (all good, it's my journey and doesn't have to be theirs). I've posted a Poll on a MS Community to get an idea of how many people (hopefully honestly) answer the poll to gauge if people consume much sugar in their daily food intake. Not as easy as one may think, as Sugar has been creeping into around 80% of the food we eat (whole foods excluded of course), people are eating far more processed foods these days and unfortunately not cooking as much as we once did. When I was growing up, fast food for example was a treat, at most a once a week treat and mostly for my family it was Fish n' Chips or a Hamburger, though it was a proper burger not this McDonalds etc. sugar laden fast food crap people seem to consume quite regularly these days, some eat it nearly everyday it seems.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NH9BeekTm1s/VqNXXu9G61I/AAAAAAAAHR8/tnRCF7MrRsg/s1600/no_sugar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NH9BeekTm1s/VqNXXu9G61I/AAAAAAAAHR8/tnRCF7MrRsg/s320/no_sugar.jpg" width="314" /></a></div><br /><br />So anyway, I'm mostly over the headaches and aches and pains one seems to get when they overcome most addictions and I've started walking for exercise again, walking and exercise helps one get over addictions a little more easily and most importantly quicker than if not doing some kind of physical activity. When I was younger I was full on into sports, one of those kids who would train themselves just as much as the training that the sport/club required, I let all that go in my twenties, you know all the excuses, we've all made them, so I won't dwell on it. My one saving grace as far as exercise goes was the fact that I was a Mechanic, it's a physical job, though any "well being" gain was of course counteracted by the crap fast food I'd often eat in the workshops where I'd work. Well it was most likely somewhat more healthy than what the mega fast food giants serve up, but still it wasn't really healthy food as such, especially when you're eating it everyday for morning tea and lunch. Yes I could have just had a salad sandwich or roll, but nah, it would usually be something deep fried etc.<br /><br />So I've decided to mainly talk about giving up Sugar, maybe if people can just do that, they will most likely see some benefit to their general well being and possibly some benefit to their Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, the benefits so far for me are, sleeping better and at "normal" times, increase in energy, although when you give up Sugar you will most likely get the "No Sugar Flu", you may get headaches, sore joints and irritability and yes fatigue may increase in this detox time, Sugar is an addiction pure and simple, you will feel a bit crap just like a drug addict coming off his poison of choice, or a heavy drinker giving up drinking after years of imbibing, but giving up Sugar I'm guessing is nowhere near as bad as those two of course, but it isn't a leisurely walk in the park either.<br /><br />Even years and years ago way before I started dabbling with the Paleo Diet, as a somewhat logical person, I always thought that regardless of our MS, MSers or of course anyone with any disease or medical issue would surely benefit from being the healthiest that they could be, even those who can't exercise easily, eg. those very overweight or people who can't physically do much exercise, eg. people in wheelchairs or those who have mobility issues, all of us can still eat better, we shove far too much crap in our mouths because so much food that is "quick and easy" is also full of Sugar and <a href="https://goo.gl/tnAUKT" target="_blank">"numbers"</a> oh and too much salt of course as well.<br /><br />Oh and before people say, "it's easy for you, you're lucky!", that couldn't be further from the truth, yes it is lucky I live alone and that I can still cook my own food, absolutely true, but I am not a cook of any description and I still get fatigued standing over a hot oven or cook top, I still get fatigued from that, though hopefully that may improve as I get fitter and eat better. Ninety percent of my food is plain old meat and vegetables, the vegetables are those that start off frozen and then cooked in a pretty nifty though very simple and cheap microwave steamer (easy to clean and use), it works a treat. Yes I guess you could call what I eat very boring no doubt, but that's how I like it, if it's easy I'll cook, if it's a whole culinary delight that takes a long time to prepare I just won't cook and revert back to "take away" food or processed quick and easy meals, I really don't want to do that so I keep it plain and simple for someone who is dealing with Multiple Sclerosis issues.<br /><br />The paleo diet is about fuelling your body with good fats rather than Sugars and Carbohydrates it's why you can lose weight fairly quickly, yep, unbelievable isn't it, but it's true, me and many, many others are living proof, I have done it for two months previously, strictly, it works! In three weeks (I started the diet on Christmas day) I have lost about 4-5 kilograms (8-9 pounds), but as I say this journey for me is not so much about weight loss as it is about Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms and their severity and hopefully minimising those and how they effect my life and well being. At the second week mark I was feeling good enough to start walking around my block, it's 800 metres, I do it twice a day, once in the morning, once at night, my walking is still not great or "normal" but I can walk and the more I do it, it can only get better.<br /><br />I'm slowly starting to increase that, I'm using "Google Fit" to track distance and steps and scales to track my weight loss progress, though the electronic scales reading never really stays still lol, that's the MS...by the way, going by "Google Fit" just walking about two kilometres everyday doesn't burn ll that many calories, the main weight loss benefit comes from being in a state of "ketosis" my body is using the body fat I have built up as fuel to survive, but make no mistake, I am not starving myself, I'm eating more than enough protein and vegetables to live off, before I was giving my body much more than I actually needed and most of that "extra" was Sugar and Carbs that I consumed, not exercising at all doesn't help either. Remember if you do happen to be overweight it can only benefit you, your joints and your mental well being to lose some weight, fact! Eating better can help stave off <a href="https://goo.gl/NzG2jc" target="_blank">"Leaky Gut Syndrome"</a>&nbsp;which apparently might help with stopping stomach lining permeability, this may be a cause of some autoimmune issues, from what "they say".<br /><br />Now for some facts, I have been dabbling with the Paleo Diet or at least eating a lot better for gee, I don't know about four years now, I've lost a lot of weight over that time and I've also put "some" weight back on from relapsing to my previous bad eating habits. I've never let that get me down to the extent of just giving it all up, it's always on my mind to eat better, though the exercising certainly does take a hit, let's be honest it becomes non existant lol.<br /><br />I'll list below some of the benefits that I think I gained from eating more healthily and exercising, well I don't just think, I pretty much now how much better I feel, but I can't scientifically prove it though of course.<br /><br />Weight Loss (the weight melts off)<br />No more bloated stomach (now instead of feeling "full" all the time, I more so eat when I'm hungry)<br />More energy and less fatigued (the afternoon crash and fatigue is lessened)<br />Sleeping better and longer (no longer on "Vampire hours")<br />Skin looks better (not that I care so much about that lol)<br />The walking helps to improve my "gait" and general fitness.<br />I think my mind becomes a little clearer<br />My general mood and mental well being has improved (I'm less negative about everything lol)<br /><br />Here is a list of why Sugar and Processed foods are bad for you resources, there are many vids on Youtube, but here's a couple<br /><br />Sugar the Bitter Truth Youtube Video, (it's a Uni Lecture by the looks of it) very comprehensive information.<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM</a><br /><br />Big Sugar Discussion Youtube Video (how we've been conned etc.)<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_CaFRsO_0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_CaFRsO_0</a><br /><br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Secrets of Sugar - The Fifth Estate - CBC News</span></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDaYa0AB8TQ%EF%BB%BF" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18.2px; transition: color 0.218s;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDaYa0AB8TQ</span><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;">﻿</span></a></span><br /><br />Why is Sugar Bad Youtube Search<br /><a href="https://goo.gl/UEDHSM">https://goo.gl/UEDHSM</a><br /><br />A page I created with Information and resources.<br /><a href="http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet/sugar-is-bad-for-you">http://www.darinallan.com/paleo_diet/sugar-is-bad-for-you</a><br /><br />Movies/Docos to watch (if you can find these to watch or see them advertised on TV, well worth watching)<br /><b>Fed Up</b><br /><b>Is Sugar the New Fat</b><br /><b>That Sugar Film</b><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: inherit;">Sugar Withdrawal Symptoms: List of Possibilities</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/07/19/sugar-withdrawal-symptoms-list-of-possibilities/">http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/07/19/sugar-withdrawal-symptoms-list-of-possibilities/</a></span><br /><br />I quit sugar community (the owner, well known "I Quit Sugar" advocate) seems to have abandon it but I just joined it to say I've Quit Sugar, to see if anything good gets posted by members etc.<br /><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117264613745385510960">https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/117264613745385510960</a><br /><br />Some great Books to read that can be purchased on Google Play Books<br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/David_Gillespie_Sweet_Poison?id=7dDPoketUnsC&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">Sweet Poison</a><br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Dr_Robert_Lustig_Fat_Chance_The_bitter_truth_about?id=XQjugC3o1RoC&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth about Sugar</a><br /><br />So feel free to contact me on Google Plus if you like, but the resources above are a great start and I'm sure you know how to use Google to search for all the information you need to Quit Sugar and why you should. I can say right now I am already not craving Sugar as much as I did before starting this diet. :)<br /><br />Disclaimer: Go see ya bloody GP before you do any shit that may effect your health...though quitting Sugar in my opinion is one of the healthiest things you could do...<br /><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><br /><br /><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/Xj77M0STK6w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2016/01/ive-quit-sugar.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-30148381935147398792015-12-04T20:01:00.001+11:002015-12-05T19:53:44.621+11:00Lemtrada - One Month After Infusions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4s/gc_WnZWy2cQ/s1600/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4s/gc_WnZWy2cQ/s200/screen480x480.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Well, it's about one month anyway, I had an appointment to visit my Neurologist and Nurse yesterday, it was the follow up Lemtrada visit, they had the results of the first blood and urine test I had for the Lemtrada monitoring. There is an app for Lemtrada monitoring which texts you the results so I already knew all was fine, though it's always nice to hear it confirmed by a human... I also had a chat to the main nurse I've been seeing, Belinda has been great putting up with my incessant questions lol. There has been a lot to take in since I started my Lemtrada infusions journey. She organised everything from start to finish!<br /><br />I also got enrolled in some research they are doing on Lemtrada recipients, I guess it's just an extra function to monitor Lemtradians. The side effects of Lemtrada can "come on" years later like up to at least three years later, that's why there are monthly blood and urine tests for four years after the initial infusions.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;">Ok, so has anything changed after the first round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions?</span></b><br /><b><span style="color: red; font-family: &quot;trebuchet ms&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Everything I say below are just what I'm feeling and noticing, it's not based on science or medicine, it's just what I feel and think.</span><br /><h4 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Fatigue </b><i>since</i><b style="font-size: x-large;"> Lemtrada</b></span></h4><span style="font-family: inherit;">I may have a little more energy, though it manifests itself by allowing me to push through the afternoon MS crash, I would normally need to have my afternoon "nanna nap" now I seem to be able to hurdle that barrier so I can stay awake until a reasonable "proper time to go to bed instead of the Vampire hours I would often keep...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Walking </span><i>since</i><span style="font-size: large;"> Lemtrada</span></span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don't hink there has been any change to my walking, I still have good days and bad days, somedays it seems that I can walk quite normally, the next, walking is a bit of a struggle, the morning when I first wake up is the worst... So overall the walking mobility hasn't changed much at all, of course being able to handle the fatigue a little better can help with one's walking.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Fogginess in Left Eye </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>since</i></span><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> Lemtrada</span></span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">My left eye was left with a foggy outlook after a bout of Optic Neuritis, it affected both eyes though lasting damage only occurred with the left eye, the right eye pretty much recovered fully, whew! The fog on my left eye was like pea soup when it first happened, then there was some slightly less foggy gaps in my outlook, if I moved my eyes or head around it was a little clearer in the gaps. Now it seems that the gaps have pretty much disappeared and the fog is more uniformed and just a little less foggy overall, I think!</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Numbness in Hands </b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>since</i></span><b style="font-size: x-large;"> Lemtrada</b></span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">Both of my hands have been somewhat "numb" since my very first exacerbation many years ago, they still are a little numb, though I think there has been some improvement in "feeling" or "touch". The numbness in my hands feels like it might have decreased a little, I'll keep an eye on things and see if there is any long lasting improvement...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">There have been nothing negative so far from side effects etc. let's hope it stays that way lol!</span><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/flYjxKEpCpo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/12/lemtrada-one-month-after-infusions.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-5055439743756426512015-11-03T10:57:00.000+11:002015-11-03T11:05:34.224+11:00My Lemtrada (Alemtuzumab) Infusions Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QgqZq9tdIY0/Vjf1wKZwjeI/AAAAAAAAHEg/mNXcGhrDUJQ/s1600/Lemtrada.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QgqZq9tdIY0/Vjf1wKZwjeI/AAAAAAAAHEg/mNXcGhrDUJQ/s320/Lemtrada.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><b>I survived!</b><br /><b><br /></b>In fact, by all accounts, I had a dream run, just two minor incidents, one was expected. I was bored, I was tired but I didn't seem to be having any ill effects from the Lemtrada and cocktail of other drugs that were taken as part of this treatment.<br /><br />There was a fair bit to take in as I was staying in the Austin Hospital "Medi-Hotel", so I had a lot of info floating around in the old noggin. The first day the lovely receptionist walked me over to "Ambulatory Care" where they do all manner of infusions and treatments, there's about three areas where various infusions and treatments are administered. I was the only person doing the Lemtrada treatment that week (five days). It was great being at the Hospital, but not being admitted to a ward etc. so I got to go back to my room and chill. Meals were supplied and the staff were very helpful.<br /><br /><b>The First Day</b> started off with having the cannula inserted, taking the oral pre medications, then the methyl pred intravenously, there are also saline flush outs between intravenous meds, so most of the time you're just being pumped with various fluids, sitting there twiddling your thumbs lol. The first day of infusion, just had one minor incident, I got the chills, I was shivering/shaking uncontrollably, it was a small event, only lasted about 5 minutes, the rest of the day/infusion was fine.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5-M0Yn3L-IQ/VjfiupMKKVI/AAAAAAAAHDg/6UIZqcNDkx4/s1600/2015-10-26%2B08.40.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5-M0Yn3L-IQ/VjfiupMKKVI/AAAAAAAAHDg/6UIZqcNDkx4/s640/2015-10-26%2B08.40.48.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Day Cannula Inserted</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Everyday, before I wandered over to Ambulatory Care, I would take the Pre Medications, three main Oral Pills, plus Panadol for headaches every four hours and Temazepam to sleep, Intravenous Phenergen seemed to help on the last infusion day, I had woken with what felt like a decent dose of the flu, headaches, sore muscles and joints etc., simply it was like I had the flu, it was a slow walk over to Ambulatory Care on my last infusion day...<br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Loratidine (Claratyne)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Ranitidine (Zantac)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Valaciclovir (Valtrex)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Also take&nbsp;</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Panadol (headaches etc.)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Temazepam (sleeping pill)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Last day heebie geebies</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Phenergen</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><b>The Second Day </b>was easier, didn't need to mess with a new cannula, bonus, the infusion was uneventful, no adverse effects to report, it all went smoothly...my infusion experience was fairly boring, which I'm quite happy about lol.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0SknQbuaHAQ/Vjfots3az_I/AAAAAAAAHDw/KC_VUag9_e8/s1600/2015-10-27%2B09.34.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0SknQbuaHAQ/Vjfots3az_I/AAAAAAAAHDw/KC_VUag9_e8/s640/2015-10-27%2B09.34.27.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian My Best Friend for Five Days</td></tr></tbody></table>The Infusion machine above didn't leave my side for about eight hours a day for five days, I miss him, I called him Ian, he controlled my life, he told the nurses when to change bags, when to do their Observations, blood pressure, temperature and general check over, the checks were quite frequent, three cheers for Ian the Infusion Machine ;)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Third Day </b>was the last day of the pre Methyl Pred infusion before hooking up the Lemtrada. Once again the third day seemed to go fine, feeling a bit rundown, but nothing adverse happening as far as problems with the drugs etc.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KgIkiimyTd8/VjfsUdTNAgI/AAAAAAAAHD8/CScBYu02mnA/s1600/2015-10-27%2B16.04.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KgIkiimyTd8/VjfsUdTNAgI/AAAAAAAAHD8/CScBYu02mnA/s640/2015-10-27%2B16.04.44.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partial View from my Infusion seat</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did at least have a decent view while twiddling my thumbs, yeah I did read a few chapters of a book on my tablet, I played a few games, but honestly, I spent a lot of time looking out the windows watching the world go by, I made sure I got "my seat" everyday, I just got there early on time lol!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Fourth Day </b>they changed from Methylprednisolone infusion bag to Hydrocortisone from a syringe injected into the line, so my day gets a little shorter by an hour, YIPPEEE! No problems recorded or inkling tomorrow would be the worst day... Oh and had Cannula inserted into another vein, standard practice apparently, change cannula after three days</div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cRuuuSgT9E8/Vjfvsxhp0pI/AAAAAAAAHEI/LLa7zBhH3iw/s1600/lemtrada_bag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cRuuuSgT9E8/Vjfvsxhp0pI/AAAAAAAAHEI/LLa7zBhH3iw/s640/lemtrada_bag.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lemtrada is light sensitive, so they cover the actual infusion bag with a Black cover</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Lemtrada drug is light sensitive so they cover the infusion bag with a black cover to keep the light out, can't watch the fluid disappearing damn it lol.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Fifth and Final Day </b>was the worst day of the lot for me, apparently this shitty feeling can happen on the fourth day to some people as well, maybe the lack of Methyl Pred has something to do with it, but on the last day, I felt absolutely crap, like I had the flu, so of course it aint all that bad but I think the lack of sleep doesn't help, you really are drained by the end of the week. I had a headache, flushing, some itchiness, sore muscles and joints, yep it was like Influenza, the pre meds helped alleviate the effects. I didn't feel like sitting there all day feeling the way I did, one of the Neurologists dropped into see how I was going and suggested some Phenergen to take the edge off, I was on board with that idea, after the Phenergen, nothing worried me lol.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yNRDq7SiDHs/VjfzRrcMqOI/AAAAAAAAHEU/dCXNW-5vLdY/s1600/2015-10-27%2B09.31.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yNRDq7SiDHs/VjfzRrcMqOI/AAAAAAAAHEU/dCXNW-5vLdY/s640/2015-10-27%2B09.31.10.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm fairly sure the seat I'm sitting on here now has my arse imprinted forever...</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">It seems I was quite lucky, so far at least, with the Lemtrada Infusions, one nurse said your course of infusions has been one of the most uneventful out of the ones the have done, whew, everything went smoothly, no reactions to the drugs, the worst of the whole process was the utter boredom. So I'm taking it pretty easy this week especially, I'll stay close to home :)</span><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/FIV8tE_Vpng" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon VIC 3040, Australia-37.755337 144.917282-37.780447499999994 144.8769415 -37.7302265 144.9576225https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/11/my-lemtrada-alemtuzumab-infusions.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-73533967000977509012015-09-28T14:44:00.001+10:002015-10-08T09:30:36.354+11:00First day of Aubagio Washout for Lemtrada Infusions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-giAxK1IRmeg/VgEEpBgOLTI/AAAAAAAAG64/ZyuxjuFYhNI/s1600/washout.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-giAxK1IRmeg/VgEEpBgOLTI/AAAAAAAAG64/ZyuxjuFYhNI/s200/washout.png" width="200" /></a></div>Well I arose from my slumber quite late today, went to bed at a reasonable time but just couldn't get off to sleep, quite common for me. I did "pop a pill" to help me sleep but it had little effect, some times they seem to work, other times, my racing mind over comes the drug's intended purpose. I woke with thoughts of undertaking my first day of the washout regime, oh yeah ok need to get some orange juice to mix the powder of the Questran sachets in so they're more palatable and easier to swallow, luckily the local Service Station is a Coles Express, so it's like a mini, mini supermarket that has the basics, bonus, they have orange juice! I haven't drank orange juice for about 10 years I guess, too many oranges for my liking...<br /><br />Of course there isn't a lot to say as you just empty the sachets into a glass of orange juice and stir vigorously so it's mixed in well. then down it. I suspect any effects will arrive in the following days (Hope not!)... I must say after having two glasses of orange juice mixed with this Questran stuff I actually feel quite full, it didn't taste bad, it only tasted of, well, orange juice lol.<br /><br />After actually reading the instructions on the Questran box... I note I may need to get a "stool softener" from my doc or chemist, great I thought it was going to be the opposite to firm stool, I thought it would be an explosive experience, I'm really not sure what's preferable!<br /><br />On another note, I seem to be getting a little more apprehensive about the impending Lemtrada infusions, mainly because, I like to be informed so I've been reading and watching personal blogs and videos so I know what to expect, it's not all "candy canes and puppy dogs" it doesn't sound like much fun at all, but I'd rather know what to expect than not, even if it does fill me with a bit of fear in the process. I'm concentrating on the possible positive bonuses there are after the Lemtrada infusion treatments. Obviously there is not a great deal to say until I'm actually admitted to the Hospital and the first infusion starts.<br /><br />Oh, today I deleted my Google Calendar entry that reminded me to take my Aubagio pill everyday, well it notified me twice a day so I didn't forget, I'll miss that notification everyday lol.<br /><br />That's all for this post, I suspect I'll have more to say about this washout in the following days, most likely, swearing, cursing and not all that happy lol...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/P-EjtImAbwM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/09/first-day-of-aubagio-washout-for.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-51612851211726203702015-09-22T17:36:00.001+10:002015-09-27T13:48:12.414+10:00Aubagio Washout prior to Lemtrada Infusion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-giAxK1IRmeg/VgEEpBgOLTI/AAAAAAAAG60/N1CkOM1PutE/s1600/washout.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-giAxK1IRmeg/VgEEpBgOLTI/AAAAAAAAG60/N1CkOM1PutE/s200/washout.png" width="200" /></a></div>This won't be a large post, just wanted to add the picture of the washout drug I need to take before I have the Lemtrada infusion, wow there are quite a few sachet's I need to consume lol. This "washout" is to get rid of any trace of the Aubagio Oral medication from my system. I have been taking Aubagio for about three to four years from memory. I need to take two sachets twice a day after food and separate dose by two hours of other medication if possible. This should be interesting...<br /><br /><h4 style="text-align: center;">Picture of Washout Medication</h4><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZoLlnY4dVI/VgD9v1m8KII/AAAAAAAAG6k/7JnpWTY23xc/s1600/washout_drug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZoLlnY4dVI/VgD9v1m8KII/AAAAAAAAG6k/7JnpWTY23xc/s640/washout_drug.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Yep the picture is not all that clear, probably from the very slight shaking of my MS hands lol. I've also organised with the Pharmacist to save me a Fluvax as he only had two left, we're at the arse end of the Flu season I guess and he won't be getting any more this year anyway or so he said, the Fluvax and Pneumovax are injected after the washout.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/jh_R2u4XZvE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/09/aubagio-washout-prior-to-lemtrada.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-80376749364961828792015-09-19T04:14:00.002+10:002015-09-20T02:24:05.661+10:00Lemtrada Infusions for Multiple Sclerosis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V2sbJkOIAEE/VfxSZh4GQAI/AAAAAAAAG5E/NAfAP3ECGTk/s1600/Lemtrada_vial.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V2sbJkOIAEE/VfxSZh4GQAI/AAAAAAAAG5E/NAfAP3ECGTk/s200/Lemtrada_vial.jpeg" width="166" /></a></div>I'm no doubt "jumping the gun" a little, but as I did with my Teriflunomide (Aubagio) drug trial posts, I'll start blogging my Lemtrada infusion experiences and the whole lead up to the actual infusion. The discussions I had with my Neurologist and the lovely Belinda, one of the great nurses in the Austin Hospital NCRESS team were quite informative and of course I had heaps of questions as well, as I always do. Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) is a newish drug used for the treatment of Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS), like most drugs these days it's also used for other disease treatments. I'll start with a bit of information about Lemtrada first off.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Genzyme's - Lemtrada Home Page<br /><a href="https://www.lemtrada.com/" target="_blank">Lemtrada main home page</a><br /><br />Alemtuzumab on Wikipedia<br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alemtuzumab" target="_blank">Alemtuzumab Page on Wikipedia</a><br /><br />Lemtrada Efficacy<br /><a href="http://www.msra.org.au/new-study-supports-long-term-efficacy-lemtrada" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.25;" target="_blank">New study supports the long-term efficacy of Lemtrada</a><br /><div><br /></div><div>The first Lemtrada Personal Blog I found</div><div><a href="http://usalemtrada.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">USA Lemtrada Blog</a></div><div><br /></div><div>It's interesting to note from the link above on efficacy</div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0a0a0a; line-height: 16.5777px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"By following up these patients over time, the authors reported that 60% of patients receiving Lemtrada showed an overall stabilisation of their illness following treatment. This included 49% of patients who showed overall reductions in disability levels compared to their baseline level. An additional 10% of patients had their illness stabilised and showed no further change in disability levels after treatment. In general, higher relapse rates at the beginning of the study were associated with poorer long-term disability outcomes."</span></span></blockquote>When you read about the side effects of Lemtrada on face value you &nbsp;might think "no way would I agree to have this drug administered to me" but I'm the youngest in my family, I am single and live alone, so I really need to think about the future if my MS progresses, I don't have any family close by and as I don't live with anyone else, it's best I give myself the best chance at independence for as long as I can, something I've already somewhat lost to Multiple Sclerosis, I can still walk albeit with a slight limp, I can still look after myself, I don't want that to change in &nbsp;the future, so I'm going to take the risk...and it is indeed a risk, but eh, so is crossing the road. Ninety nine percent of the MS medications have a possibility of some nasty side effects lol, so I'm happy to see how Lemtrada performs for me!<br /><br />The early happenings in the lead up to the infusion<br />Flu Vaccine<br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pneumococcal vaccine</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The vaccine injections will take place after the Aubagio "washout", which is meant to be just so wonderful, it should be quite the shitty experience apparently...</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There will be drugs that you have to take as well on top of the actual infusion drug, which I'll add later, because well I'm not exactly sure what they are right now lol.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have to watch what I eat, I need to be careful of contracting Listeria, damn I'm going to have to wash my hands more regularly lol,..there are quite a few things I will need to be careful with, they gave me quite a bit of literature on Lemtrada and the side effects and what you need to be careful with.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I posted this in the first Lemtrada post but will do so here as well</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="line-height: 18.2px;"><b>LEMTRADA can cause serious side effects including autoimmune conditions and serious infections.</b></span></span><br /><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">Thyroid disorders</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">A condition called Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura [ITP]</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">Certain types of kidney diseases</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.2px;">I'll publish this now, I'll no doubt add a little more to this post, but it's late and I should be in bed...</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.2px;"><b>Lemtrada Information Video</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xx-Hi6zmVXg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xx-Hi6zmVXg?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Image taken from a Lemtrada information pdf from the Australian MS Society</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M86queQ5Pys/VfxkMMIRoiI/AAAAAAAAG5U/FNVOPHWOL0U/s1600/lemtrada_info.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="616" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M86queQ5Pys/VfxkMMIRoiI/AAAAAAAAG5U/FNVOPHWOL0U/s640/lemtrada_info.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/v3S5g541QDo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/09/lemtrada-infusions-for-multiple.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-9882981400938632712015-09-18T23:03:00.000+10:002015-09-27T13:49:14.336+10:00Lesion activity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SSMuzeG-Vbc/UL4RXF6Y0-I/AAAAAAAABTA/fMIkj1i66Rc/s1600/MRI_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SSMuzeG-Vbc/UL4RXF6Y0-I/AAAAAAAABTA/fMIkj1i66Rc/s200/MRI_04.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I had my regular yearly Neurologist visit today, it was also a follow up to the recent MRI scan I did a couple of weeks ago, (or was it one week ago, eh, who cares), I've only been back home for a couple of hours. I was going to go through the visit to the Neuro step by step in order of events, but damn I've forgotten already lol.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Basically I recall sitting down going through the pleasantries that us humans go through, I've known my main Neurologist for about 6-7 years I guess, I did an "Interleukin" drug trial that lasted about two years. I also did the Teriflunomide (Aubagio) oral drug trial that lasted wow, so bloody long, three to four years all up from memory. So I guess we know each other rather well from a patient - Doctor (Neurologist) relationship as he was the main man in charge of those trials, of course with the system we have in Australia you get to talk to most of the available MS Neurologists at the hospital over time. Though you generally have a "main" neurologist. I have respect for Richard (Neurologist) he always answers my incessant questions about all things MS.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the quick chat we got down to business about me and my MS (one of the few times these days I feel anything at all is actually all about me lol), we started with the most recent MRI scan, the Neuro pointed out that I had a new lesion. A lesion that appeared not to cause anything noticeable, I actually thought my MS symptoms had kind of plateaued, it's difficult to be a practiser of logic rather than emotion when you have MS, you have the pseudobullbar effect attacking you from all sides virtually with every thought you have, it can induce sadness or hilarity, it can reduce you to tears over the simplest negatives you come across or you can find yourself giggling at the most inappropriate things to giggle at, like a person who has a warped sense of humour often does.</div><div><br /></div>So what does a new lesion actually mean to me in my case, one that doesn't seem to be affecting me with an obvious new symptom or an old symptom returning with a vengeance. It means that the drug I am currently taking, Aubagio, the oral drug I was part of the trial for, is no longer effective at doing what it's meant to do. Well now, that really is a bugger, isn't it, it means I need to look at something else to keep my Multiple Sclerosis at bay. The Neuro seemed to suggest the best way would be to go at it hard, in that, not just go to say Gilenya or Tecfidera, but hit the MS harder with something stronger, enter <a href="https://www.lemtrada.com/" target="_blank">Lemtrada</a>&nbsp;(alemtuzumab)<span style="color: #545454; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">.</span></span><br /><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">I will admit my ears did prick up when I first heard about Lemtrada, it sounded quite interesting from an efficacy perspective and the fact that it was two infusion courses over two years, the first course of Lemtrada is five infusions over five days, one a day, the second year it's three infusions over three days and if all goes well, that's it. Though I will need to have a blood test once a month for four years lol, it's a newish drug that can have some nasty side effects, so the blood tests monitor what's going on so they can take early action in treating the side effect.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">I will leave it at that for now as I still have to go through the tests, I also need to get a flu injection, and some other injection, something about infection risks when on this drug, from well, other infections. I will though list the main three nasty possible side effects from the literature that I received.&nbsp;</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><b>LEMTRADA can cause serious side effects including autoimmune conditions and serious infections.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span></span><br /><ul><li><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">Thyroid disorders</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">A condition called Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura [ITP]</span></li><li><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">Certain types of kidney diseases</span></li></ul><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">I'll sign off with</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.2px;"><i>Happy, happy, joy, joy!</i></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">Readers can decide how to take that lmao</span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4o/qtWqurVNOTw/s1600/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oqSLwuyS_7I/VfwKPKXYizI/AAAAAAAAG4o/qtWqurVNOTw/s320/screen480x480.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="line-height: 18.2px;"><br /></span><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/IS6Ybs3My4k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/09/lesion-activity.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-56154286786598986572015-05-14T14:43:00.001+10:002015-09-07T06:15:42.987+10:00Getflix dodgy Affiliate program - Beware you can't leave!I guess this is a <b>Getflix Affiliate</b> program Review and a story of incompetence!<br /><br />So I stupidly signed up to the Getflix affiliate program, all my fault of course no doubt, what I didn't realise until I saw the Dashboard was that it appears to be a third party company that runs this affiliate service. How do I know this, well I don't, but after numerous emails and being told numerous lies by their customer support morons that told me that being removed is no problem, well &nbsp;guess what 2 weeks later they still haven't removed me.<br /><br />I suspect something stinks with this company. I did not sign up to a third party I signed up with Getflix, I do not want my details shared with some scumbag third party affiliate provider. They can't remove me so I'm guessing they have no control over this "system" at all, you can also see the advertisement for "Affiliate Library" when you type the following into your browser www.affiliatelibrary.com it doesn't load, it doesn't seem to exist, seems a bit dodgy to me!<br /><br />So who the hell is running this service, Getflix or some dodgy third party whose web address doesn't seem to exist, well who knows, the Getflix CSGs are now ignoring me and giving me bullshit answers to clear questions.<br /><br />Now please understand I have tried and tried to ask nicely to be removed, the more I was lied to and fucked around the more suspicious I have become, I will gladly remove this post if my request is fulfilled and I am removed, but as it stands with their lack of honesty and transparency, I just have to believe this is a dodgy company that does not value their own customers and would prefer to lie to them. They seemed like a great company before they were sold, now it just seems dodgy!<br /><br />I am posting this to warn others about the Getflix affiliate program so they can be better informed before they sign up!<br /><br /><b>Below is a screenshot of the Dashboard</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVMk3toOX_0/VVQnpF5HmqI/AAAAAAAAGIk/-yDrCntXvKw/s1600/getflix_affiliate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="529" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVMk3toOX_0/VVQnpF5HmqI/AAAAAAAAGIk/-yDrCntXvKw/s640/getflix_affiliate.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><b>Here is my Twitter conversation with Getflix, note the date!</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Fzi10WcnJ0/VVQwBsfxLcI/AAAAAAAAGI0/68L8TsdeGiE/s1600/getflix_twitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2Fzi10WcnJ0/VVQwBsfxLcI/AAAAAAAAGI0/68L8TsdeGiE/s1600/getflix_twitter.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So what the hell is wrong with these people at Getflix? Anyway, I am at a loss to explain Getflix's behaviour but it seems they are either liars or incompetent, it's been over two weeks now. I've had absolutely no communication from these arseholes, so all I can say is, BEWARE OF GETFLIX! This is a honest review of dealing with Getflix and it's staff, the screenshots allude to that from Twitter and as I have said they removed me from following them on Google Plus, when my subscriptions ends and &nbsp;needs to be renewed for Getflix services to bypass geo blocking for Netflix, I will not be renewing my subscription, this whole experience showed me what type of a company they now are since being sold!<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/OPJ29hFvZ5o" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/05/getflix-dodgy-affiliate-program-beware.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-1793365919397595792015-03-03T12:16:00.001+11:002015-03-08T02:07:46.682+11:00Stan TV Tips for Smooth Streaming<h2>Stan Streaming TV Service Setup Tips</h2><br />I have been subscribed to Stan streaming television for a little over a month, I just recently made my first ten dollar payment to the service, all went smoothly. Reading Whirlpool forum it seems that some people are having issues, where as for me it's been very much mostly smooth sailing, except for the odd bit of buffering here and there it's mostly been a pleasurable experience, with many hours of tv viewing and season binges.<br /><br /><h3>Apps for Chromecast and Android Devices to Test your Setup</h3><div>The link below is an app that helps to optimise Chromecast's settings like connectivity<br /><br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&amp;hl=en-GB" target="_blank">Click Here to Get the <b>WiFi Analyzer</b> Android App</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.libspeed4cast.app&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">Click Here to Get the <b>Speed4Cast</b> Android App</a></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/SMMf9MBqvk8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Australia-25.274398 133.77513599999997-75.069929 51.157948499999975 24.521132999999995 -143.60767650000003https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/03/stan-tv-tips-for-smooth-streaming.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-39277181121367279872015-02-11T12:02:00.001+11:002015-02-11T12:20:16.975+11:00Australia Post Essendon North Delivery Driver Saga ContinuesI'm really not sure what I've done to this guy, but my problems continue, this story continues from the previous post...this post will mainly be images of where I live as the driver says he can't deliver to my residence as it's not accessible, I've sent Australia Post these pictures through their contact email address, alas no resolution yet...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/12/essendon-north-australia-post-parcel.html">http://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/12/essendon-north-australia-post-parcel.html</a><br /><br />Recently I ordered some simple cabling and connector looms from Jaycar, small items, though they were in a larger than needed plastic envelope for protection, the packaging was fine, this time not only did I get carded (I was home all day BTW), the parcel wasn't left at my local Post Office (Essendon North) it was left at the Essendon Post Office near the Essendon train station! I had to visit both Post Offices as I admit I didn't read the card well enough as I immediately thought the parcel would of course be at my local post office. The people at my local Post Office are friggin useless, as soon as you mention you live in a unit, without even listening to you they cut you short and say well that's why it was carded, the drivers are not required to deliver to units...you try to explain that your unit is "on the street" just like any house and they just talk over you, wonderful people they are!<br /><br />So here are some photos I took of the front of my unit, this is all still under investigation, it's only been about a week...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_bhWCK31Vk/VNqjHDG-3FI/AAAAAAAAF18/ZGHtZ8d_Wf0/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.12.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l_bhWCK31Vk/VNqjHDG-3FI/AAAAAAAAF18/ZGHtZ8d_Wf0/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.12.40.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFqVLiN08cU/VNqjZlXYjNI/AAAAAAAAF2E/VxjAeMRgD-s/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.12.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFqVLiN08cU/VNqjZlXYjNI/AAAAAAAAF2E/VxjAeMRgD-s/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.12.52.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k-VP58ICFsw/VNqjr9CqGLI/AAAAAAAAF2M/8XUA_zF5YsY/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k-VP58ICFsw/VNqjr9CqGLI/AAAAAAAAF2M/8XUA_zF5YsY/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.12.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eYAm4LQK-HQ/VNqkBltX8TI/AAAAAAAAF2U/9yj7cnNYZ2w/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eYAm4LQK-HQ/VNqkBltX8TI/AAAAAAAAF2U/9yj7cnNYZ2w/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.23.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AExdWBrVIoE/VNquDt0kgyI/AAAAAAAAF3Y/xX0QrBsxR60/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AExdWBrVIoE/VNquDt0kgyI/AAAAAAAAF3Y/xX0QrBsxR60/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.31.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v_6YlGllCHA/VNqkspDa-tI/AAAAAAAAF2k/69TC5DM_3C0/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v_6YlGllCHA/VNqkspDa-tI/AAAAAAAAF2k/69TC5DM_3C0/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.13.42.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxNgmdBeaqg/VNqlBv-qPQI/AAAAAAAAF2s/8oZwSICq9lI/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.14.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxNgmdBeaqg/VNqlBv-qPQI/AAAAAAAAF2s/8oZwSICq9lI/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.14.09.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8xTaQKS7CRQ/VNqlTn5WkYI/AAAAAAAAF20/FX-sPNBSFio/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.14.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8xTaQKS7CRQ/VNqlTn5WkYI/AAAAAAAAF20/FX-sPNBSFio/s1600/2015-02-06%2B16.14.59.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />As even blind freddy can see the only fences are boundary and unit separation fences, there is no gate, no dog, no cat (we aren't allowed to have pets except for our feathered friends) I am genuinely at a loss as to what this guys problem is, the path is clear I am directly facing and "on McCulloch street", there is a primary school directly across the road from me you can see the "candy" school crossing posts, the street has to be clear for the Essendon North mothers to drop off their little darlings each day and pick them up at the end of the school day.<br /><br />I get food deliveries from Woolworths Online and they have no issues with accessing my unit, they even occasionally and stupidly deliver the goods to my back door occasionally as the unit complex is all open, you can walk freely around the whole unit complex. The AusPost delivery driver though can't even access my front sliding door apparently, there was meant to be some person coming out from the main delivery centre for my area to view these access issues first hand...alas, if that did happen I have no idea, they certainly didn't knock on my door, I feel like I'm living in an alternate universe, where Australia post has there heads firmly up their arseholes.<br /><br />I'm really not sure what my next move will be if they close this ticket, as when you go to the postal Ombudsman's website, all they do is link you to guess who? Australia post Customer feedback lmao, conflict of interest it seems not...alternate universe stuff right there lol.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/TeskOlcFnig" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/02/australia-post-essendon-north-delivery.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-64046831895979633142015-01-22T02:21:00.002+11:002015-01-23T03:50:12.793+11:00Stan TV and Movie Streaming Service Australia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KvHPIB-WjwE/VL-7t5TLCmI/AAAAAAAAFrU/305KfbTDENo/s1600/Stan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KvHPIB-WjwE/VL-7t5TLCmI/AAAAAAAAFrU/305KfbTDENo/s1600/Stan.png" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>About two weeks ago I signed up for a invite to try out the new streaming service from "Stan", I received the email today that allows me to test out the streaming and see what programs they have. I already use Netflix and I'm quite happy with it, who knows what will happen when Netflix reaches Australia's shores, can I still use the USA service or will I need to change to the Australian service, eh, who knows. Netflix haven't said much at all, I think that's a huge mistake on their part, while we're waiting for Netflix to say anything at all we are already looking at other players. Netflix like most companies are morons, but I do like their streaming TV shows of course, time will tell just how all this plays out in an Australia market.<br /><div><br /></div><div>An Australian market that has been bent over and royally screwed by any arsehole that could rip us Aussies off, Foxtel an Australian cable provider, have treated us with so much fucking contempt they can shove every offer they have made since Netflix finally announced they were coming to Oz, about time Netflix! Foxtel cable still shows ads, seriously who in their right mind would pay a company for advertisements, well I'll tell you, deadshit Australians! Yep some Aussies gladly pay for ads provided from Foxtel. The only time I have used Foxtel was when I could rip it off for free, thems was good days, but seriously, the ads were shocking even when getting it for free, it's laughable yet people still sign up to Foxtel...</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been streaming TV shows tonight from Stan via my old Nexus 7 Tablet (2012) and Stan's Android app to my 51" Panasonic plasma, it has worked flawlessly with my Chromecast, they have some TV shows that Netflix don't have, which will be how it is, it looks like it will be necessary to sign up to more than one streaming service, so far my choices will be Netflix and Stan lol, they are the only two I have used, I still need to see exactly what programs Stan will have of course but for quality of app and the actual streaming quality, stan is every bit as good as Netflix, let's hope that doesn't change in the future as more users come on board.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The device compatibility list isn't huge yet but no doubt that list will grow in time, so I have one month free to see what Stan has to offer and how the service runs in that first month, but seriously I just can't fault it at the moment, anyway! You can sign up for the free trial at the Stan homepage linked to below, but be quick I'm sure the free trial will end soon.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Spiel</b></div><div>"Watch on your TV, computer, tablet or smartphone"<br />"Stream Your Favourite TV Shows"<br />"Selection of shows available first and exclusive along with hundreds of series including complete box sets."<br />"Heaps of Blockbusters, all time greats, world movies and award winning favourites."<br />"TV shows and movies for kids of all ages. Parental controls to keep kids safe."</div><div>Ten Dollars a month ($10.00)</div><div>Unlimited streaming, no ads!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-7"><div><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Google&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com.au/chrome/devices/chromecast/" target="_blank">Chromecast</a>&nbsp;usually about $50 have seen it as low as about $35 when on special, they are occasionally marked down by retailers, keep an eye out ;)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Apple Airplay</span></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Some web links</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Stan Home Page</div><div><a href="https://www.stan.com.au/">https://www.stan.com.au/</a><br /><br />Whirlpool forum discussion<br /><a href="http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2345764">http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2345764</a><br /><br />The image below was taken with my Nexus 4 mobile phone after hitting the "Cast" icon on the Nexus 7 tablet before starting a video, it's the start of a video and the end!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A8BrKN0m4G0/VL_0okQ6JtI/AAAAAAAAFrk/XdfB31bYfM8/s1600/stan_on_tv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A8BrKN0m4G0/VL_0okQ6JtI/AAAAAAAAFrk/XdfB31bYfM8/s1600/stan_on_tv.jpg" height="368" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/9bcxCDx5RnE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2015/01/stan-tv-and-movie-streaming-service.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-212847817775562392014-12-16T12:41:00.000+11:002014-12-16T12:41:50.900+11:00Essendon North Australia Post Parcel Delivery Driver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-2AzFuBaXI/VI-MP9XmT7I/AAAAAAAAFm4/kdF9tULm0aM/s1600/australia-post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-2AzFuBaXI/VI-MP9XmT7I/AAAAAAAAFm4/kdF9tULm0aM/s1600/australia-post.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>I'll start off by saying that I actually like <a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/108779346460674817468" target="_blank">+Australia Post</a>, though my most recent experiences with the Auspost Delivery Driver that services Essendon North is making me rethink my love for Auspost, as I'm disabled my preferred way of shopping is online, virtually the only way I shop these days, I even get most of my groceries home delivered, so I know what I'm doing and online shopping is the way of the future for me and many others that are in my position.<br /><br />Now it's not just me complaining, apparently the *Essendon North LPO* (my local post office) is also making complaints, or at least more correctly complaining on behalf of the residents of Essendon North that need to ring them asking "where my parcel is". The New Driver regularly doesn't deliver to people's door he seems to prefer to just "card everything" which of course means a trip to the Essendon North Post Office. I pay for delivery, so why are my parcels not being delivered?<br /><br />I've heard every possible reason:<br /><br />"Oh you're in a Unit, the drivers won't deliver to units" here is a picture taken from the front looking directly at my place from the street&nbsp;McCulloch Street.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FOikeyuCk4M/VI9-cQC4j0I/AAAAAAAAFmI/LS46sSkvNt4/s1600/2014-12-16%2B10.41.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FOikeyuCk4M/VI9-cQC4j0I/AAAAAAAAFmI/LS46sSkvNt4/s1600/2014-12-16%2B10.41.49.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br />You can see the cream coloured dividing fence on the left there, well that is my little unit between that fence and the driveway on the right, it's just like a normal house in that faces the street I reside in, he does not need to drive in to the place he can just nudge his van into the driveway just like they do at any house they deliver to. Nope apparently that's to difficult for this moron!<br /><br />I'm not sure if the driver has a sister but I can guarantee you I did not have sex with her as I have been celibate for about 12-15 years, so I'm at a loss as to why he discriminates against me, I'm also a Buddhist maybe he hates the "untouchables", the Dalits of India as they are often Buddhists, I might be on too something there, maybe he saw my Stone Buddha poster I have on my wall...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XlTXd_sYejU/VI-BhYUhePI/AAAAAAAAFmg/lGNtzqin7ds/s1600/2014-12-16%2B11.44.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XlTXd_sYejU/VI-BhYUhePI/AAAAAAAAFmg/lGNtzqin7ds/s1600/2014-12-16%2B11.44.02.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><br />Oh the other excuse:<br /><br />"It's Christmas, the drivers are very busy" I bet they are, though their workload doesn't seem to include me or my street or residence, my parcel was onboard for delivery on the 15-12-2014, it's now the 16-12-2014 3 minutes away from 12.00pm, I still don't have my parcel...it has not been carded, my security camera sees the letterboxes, he hasn't been seen today at all. If this idiot ever comes to my place I will nab a photo of him for all the world to see, yep I'm pissed off! For an atheist the Christmas excuse means nothing to me as I don't celebrate Xmas any more...what I'm waiting for is not a Christmas present!<br /><br />"Am I going to let this go"? not on your nelly, if I don't fight this "non delivery trend" I will forever more need to go to the post office to pick up my parcels, I even asked for a PO Box, but they don't have any spare, so that's out. If the driver won't deliver to me what choice do I now have? None that I can see. On the same day my delivery was due, I had already received an item from another online shop in the Sydney area, they used Toll couriers and the item was here before 12.00pm yesterday, so the "busy" excuse is wearing a little thin right now, though this successful courier was from Toll not Auspost!<br /><br />Even if by some chance the driver still delivers my parcel in that it's not lost, it's somewhere in the ether, does that mean my parcel was taken home with him and left in the van overnight, is this normal practice, if so why wasn't it taken back to the Local Post Office at Essendon North and carded, it's all very fishy, well actually it's not fishy at all, the driver is incompetent, I have absolutely no doubt of that at all, the guy is a moron plain and simple.<br /><br />I've made complaints, one was closed with no action taken, I have now made a complaint via the Ombudsman which funnily enough they just redirect you do Australia Post customer service lmao, let's see how that goes, but I really won't be holding my breath as past experience does not bode well for any sort of outcome from Australia Post. I'll update with pictures and another story if I get any joy receiving my parcel, until then it would not be wise for me to order anything else online unless the postage is options include someone other than Auspost, lucky I'm not into Christmas...<br /><br />When I first moved into this place I probably ordered something online the very first week and have been ordering stuff online for about two years now, the previous driver was excellent, was never carded, not once in that whole time, now all of a sudden the service has turned to crap, to the point where I won't be ordering online again if Auspost delivery is the only option they offer, which is a bugger as most online stores will offer Auspost delivery and maybe one other courier, with some they only have an Auspost delivery option, so I'm in for a rough ride to say the least. Thanks Auspost, lucky I don't give a shit about Christmas, if I did, you've totally fucked mine up lol!!!<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/O6WfMNbO5Xc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0https://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/12/essendon-north-australia-post-parcel.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-29644543873492812992014-12-05T14:12:00.003+11:002014-12-06T16:04:44.965+11:00Paleo Diet weight loss and MS symptoms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DyropePU8WU/VIEfw8xw1PI/AAAAAAAAFgw/mO1p4fwWxzw/s1600/walking.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DyropePU8WU/VIEfw8xw1PI/AAAAAAAAFgw/mO1p4fwWxzw/s1600/walking.png" height="200" width="148" /></a></div><h3><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">The Paleo Diet and Weight Loss!</span></span></h3><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I realise I haven't said much about it for a while, but yes I'm still doing the Paleo Diet as I've said firstly to lose weight and also to see if it has any positive effect on my Multiple Sclerosis symptoms. Let's concentrate on the weight loss first, now I must say when I first started this time, I only had an old set of Analogue scales, cheap ones at that, of course they're good enough, but the old eyesight isn't as good as it once was and hey when you weigh yourself it pays to have no extraneous weight hanging off one's body, eg. clothing, eye glasses, mobile phone etc. The weight graduations are difficult to read even with glasses on.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">So I invested in some digital scales to get a more accurate and more easily sighted idea of my weight. The old scales still had "stones and pounds and kilograms" (in faint red text and graduations) but damn they are hard to read. With the old analogue set I was bouncing at the end of the dial when I first started, if it's at the end is it all that accurate, I'm not so sure, so realistically I can't give a definitive "start weight" but I reckon I was about 18.5 stone after having a think about it, a guess, which is about 117 Kilograms and about 257 lbs. The new digital scales show me now at about 104.5 Kilograms or about 230 pounds.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">With drinking heaps of water and eating quite a bit on the Paleo diet your weight does vary about one kilogram over the day, I've found the very best time to weigh myself is in the morning when I wake up after a good nights sleep, seriously for some reason on the mornings after a good sleep you really seem to lose the most weight, no science in that just my experience. I started back on Paleo on the 19-10-2014 so let's say I've been eating this way for about a month and a half, I'm losing weight quicker than the last time, much quicker, the only difference, I've been walking a lot more, everyday I try and walk around the block at least once and even though it's hard for me to believe, I do get a bit antsy if I miss a day, so I really try to make sure I do it and have been! Oh I've also been doing a bit of leg strengthening exercises as well, though not as much as the walking, so I can only surmise that the walking has helped to accelerate the weight loss.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">A really nifty new app by Google on Android phones is "Fit" so that is keeping a log of my walking, from memory it's only about 800 metres around my block so not even a kilometre, some days I do it twice when I have the energy, but as long as I do one lap of the block I'm happy that I've at least done something in the way of exercise each day.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">104.5 Kilograms!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">The Paleo Diet and Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms!</span></span></h3><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Now this as I say, will be the bonus if it proves to be correct, although obviously losing the weight is of course a great thing as far as health, mobility and general well being goes, I just hope that I also get some symptom relief as well, that will be the icing on the cake (don't think about damn cake Darin) lol. So here's what I <i>think</i> is happening as far as symptom alleviation goes:</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I'm going to put the word "think" before two of the points below as I really don't know, it's just the feeling I get, it's the Vibe!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><br /></span></span></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">I think my old shrinking brain has become a little clearer as I'm finding it a little easier to write and pull those words out of the filing system that is the brain, words are flowing a little more easier, pity I don't have much of a life and actually have something to write about lol.</span></span></blockquote><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think I have had moments of clearer eyesight in my foggy peasoupesque left eye's vision, but that really is a hard one, it really does vary because of fatigue days and just eyestrain days from reading to much or staring at the computer monitor all day, so it's quite difficult to get a true idea if it's improving or not, but I'm somewhat hopeful, time will tell...</span></blockquote><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I definitely know my energy has improved, though there is still the MS fatigue days that make you wonder sometimes, but as I'm doing more walking, that may be the main reason why, but of course the weight loss has to help with the energy levels as well no doubt.</span></blockquote><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I definitely know my walking has improved from well, walking more lol, though I really need to get a good nights sleep, if I don't it's definitely worse the next day, all to do with fatigue of course so hopefully with more walking and exercise things will improve even more.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">None of these points have been tested so it may all be just wishful thinking and my mind playing tricks on me, though I'm fairly sure of the last two points of course, also they say to really get an idea of any positives from the Paleo Diet you really need to stay on it for three months at the very least so I have another month and a half to go before that happens, now remember you do not need to exercise when on the Paleo diet to lose weight, you will indeed lose weight and quite a bit if you stick to the the diet and you'll lose it quite quickly, certainly quick enough to stay motivated to keep going if weight loss is your goal.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I want the readers to know that yes I have had a few dietary&nbsp;indiscretions&nbsp;here and there, but when I say "a few" (not many) I mean that, the main one, occasionally I get a Chicken&nbsp;Schnitzel&nbsp;and lettuce&nbsp;sandwich from the local service station, overpriced and quite nice, but let's face it, not like a proper bursting out the sides healthy sandwich you get from a "proper sandwich shop" but still essentially healthier than the crap I used to shovel into the pie hole on a daily basis, as they say the only person you are lying to is yourself if you don't come clean on your&nbsp;indiscretions&nbsp;when dieting. In a month and a half I have probably had five of said "servo&nbsp;sandwiches" and may even have a few more if the cravings hit hard, but still I will continue to try and eliminate them from my diet regardless as they are not Paleo approved.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Right now I'm concentrating on cracking the 100 kilogram mark, that will be a good day, hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks if all goes to plan. Oh scales are great for tracking weight loss, but ya know what's even better? Watching your clothes become too big for you and having to put more holes in your belts so they might hold your pants up lol, some clothes I haven't worn for years and years are starting to fit well again!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So tally ho and on we go!</span><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/36ARMZKrac8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/12/the-paleo-diet-and-weight-loss-i.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-74909646866954693222014-11-29T10:03:00.000+11:002014-11-29T16:27:26.946+11:00Victorian State Election 2014 Essendon North Fred Ackerman Illegal ParkingI snapped these pictures on Election day, today 29-11-2014 I saw the Liberal Candidates vehicle illegally parked across a footpath and in front a "NO STANDING" at any time signs.<br /><br /><h4>Fred Ackerman Liberal candidate for Essendon from behind parked in front of NO STANDING at any time signs!</h4><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIE2OfEIxIY/VHjjIsjZ4FI/AAAAAAAAFfI/2g5Kese1PJA/s1600/IMG_20141129_075546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIE2OfEIxIY/VHjjIsjZ4FI/AAAAAAAAFfI/2g5Kese1PJA/s1600/IMG_20141129_075546.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred Ackerman's campaign vehicle</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><h4 style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">Fred Ackerman Liberal Candidate for Essendon parked on footpath, this is illegal in the city of Essendon!</span></h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ig_RoIBoEFk/VHj88lG8ZSI/AAAAAAAAFfU/qyfxwqriYfg/s1600/IMG_20141129_075610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ig_RoIBoEFk/VHj88lG8ZSI/AAAAAAAAFfU/qyfxwqriYfg/s1600/IMG_20141129_075610.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><h4>Fred Ackerman Liberal candidate for Essendon, vehicle from the from the right hand side!</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d9cgYO5FBtY/VHj9yTFtGjI/AAAAAAAAFfc/AT59PV3Yh3g/s1600/IMG_20141129_075615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d9cgYO5FBtY/VHj9yTFtGjI/AAAAAAAAFfc/AT59PV3Yh3g/s1600/IMG_20141129_075615.jpg" height="360" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/B8fwA9CKTks" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/11/victorian-state-election-2014-essendon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-71193031465490646082014-11-19T03:46:00.000+11:002014-12-10T09:55:49.069+11:00Victorian Election 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xwl6Jt5iiXY/VGtzuJ7mz-I/AAAAAAAAFYw/bn1eJle7Sqk/s1600/angry_monkey_benji_park_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xwl6Jt5iiXY/VGtzuJ7mz-I/AAAAAAAAFYw/bn1eJle7Sqk/s1600/angry_monkey_benji_park_01.png" height="176" width="200" /></a></div>Bugger, bugger, bugger it's election time again, I despise elections, though I am a strong believer in compulsory voting, let's face it if we didn't have compulsory voting in Australia, hardly anyone would vote. I am so sick of politicians, lobbyists and right wing arseholes, Tony Abbott and the liebrals make me physically ill, that lip smacking, umming and ahhing, lying piece of shit sucked in the morons of Australia and the idiots are paying dearly for their stupidity, sucked in morons you lose. I am so sick of companies getting handouts while the ones who need it most are losing their entitlements bit by bit.<br /><br />The liberals have no vision, no empathy and absolutely no brains, they lie and they're corrupt! Even Dennis Nap-time, doesn't want that nasty piece if shit Abbott to come to Victoria to campaign for the liars party, I suppose that's one good thing, but personally I hope big ears does come to town, Labor would win without a doubt, in a landslide as well. How do you know when a liberal is lying? Their mouths are open! It really is as simple as that! So the liars are totally out, no vote for you! Don't care who the candidate is, right wing liars equal vomit to me!<br /><br />Now on to my Victorian Parliament Labor candidate, read on, yep I'm for the people, I'm a socialist, I'm disabled, you'd think I'd vote for my Labor Candidate, though I'm not too happy with them either, so I checked out my Lab Candidate dickhead and I have never heard of this numpty, wouldn't have a clue who he is, here are his brief details copied from the ABC website.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Danny Pearson</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="ptyred"><span style="font-size: small;">Australian Labor Party</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">Candidate for Essendon</span></span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="ptyred"></span><i> Pearson worked for lobbying firm Hawker Brittan for 14 years in lobbying, issue management and government relations. He previously worked in the office of Steve Bracks. More recently Pearson has been Managing Director of Connect2Government, Australia's First Digital Lobbying Agency.</i></blockquote><div class="website"><a class="button" href="https://www.facebook.com/Pearson4essndon"></a></div>Ok that is just his brief bio, I dug a little deeper, not much because really I just can't be arsed, he's a lobbyist, strike one! I looked at his website, guess what, this moron only has a Farcebook page for his official website, don't use faceache, never will, too many idiots, morons and fools on that shithole his official website is on, strike two! Who the hell is he? strike three!<br /><br />I have a disability I can't find anywhere that he mentions the disabled, you're out, that's the nail in your metaphorical coffin "Dunny Pearson" what a shame...if only you had more pride and gave a shit, I may just have voted for you...<br /><br />I've never voted for the Greens, I voted for the liars when I was young and stupid, my parents are liebral voters so that's what I chose, that is until I realised just how disgusting the liars party really are. I feel like a change and as I said I am a believer in voting, between liberal and labor voting there was &nbsp;probably a ten year avoidance where I never voted for any party, I managed to dodge the enrollers that come to the door for ten whole years, bliss, they was good years, but it was easy, I was always on the move, btw if they don't catch you before you decide to vote again, they don't fine you, bonus, there's a tip for the young angry people out there ;)<br /><br />So the Greens, my candidate is Ashley Waite<br /><a href="http://greens.org.au/vic/candidates/essendon">http://greens.org.au/vic/candidates/essendon</a><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Ashley Waite</span></b><br /><b>Greens</b><br /><b>Candidate for Essendon</b><br /><br /><div class="field field-name-field-intro field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>I have a personal and political interest in progressive values and policies, with a strong interest in many key Green policies. <b>I'm active within communities progressing disability rights, gender equality, and social justice.</b> I strongly believe in an evidence-based approach to sustainable economic, environmental, and social policy.</i></blockquote></div><br />I wouldn't have a clue who she is either, but she is female and every female apart from right wing liebrals of course, have a modicum of empathy, yep I actually believe that in a generalised kind of way. Ashley has her own piece of the Greens website, the Greens are on Google plus (the only social network I actually use) so that's a big bonus, of course most of these political parties really only post when they want your support around election times, but Ashley Waite seems the best out of a very bad bunch of morons in the Essendon electorate for the upcoming Victorian state election.<br /><br />There are some other numpties, but who cares, they have absolutely no chance of winning anything or even getting close! What really pushed me over the edge to vote <b>Greens</b> and <b>Ashley Waite</b> was that she is the only one that mentioned the disabled, score! Let's be serious here Ashley probably has no chance of winning, it looks like Labor are going to win thanks to numpty Tones and Nap-Time, Dennis is boring it's time to go, good riddance dickhead!<br /><br />So if Labor get's in without my vote for my Candidate, I'll be happy and if the Greens by some miracle won, I'd be happy as well and I'd be happy with my choice to vote for Ashley Waite, I have a feeling Ashley will do a great job supporting what she believes in, I am starting to like my formula for voting, it's selfish and it's socialist and it has a good vibe as far as disabilities go just the way I like my politics ;)<br /><br />These are my opinions only, I'm absolutely sure I'm not alone, this is an opinion piece!<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/CrfccSo3Dic" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/11/victorian-election-2014.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-11491464020640393592014-10-26T03:05:00.000+11:002014-11-08T11:35:47.779+11:00Week Two - Paleo Diet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNq3Ll04leQ/T1_SZxXBZ0I/AAAAAAAAAro/gAB-d4BJO4w/s1600/salad_mateya_01.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNq3Ll04leQ/T1_SZxXBZ0I/AAAAAAAAAro/gAB-d4BJO4w/s1600/salad_mateya_01.png" /></a></div>I'm into the second week of the Paleo diet, as far as weight goes, I have lost between one and two kilograms, I can't be too exact as my scales are a basic unit and analogue so will need to weigh myself on some decent scales at some stage, preferably hospital scales, they are usually spot on. I wonder if Chemist stores have scales anymore, most of them used to when I was growing up, don't think I've noticed them for a long time now though.<br /><br /><b>26-10-2014 to 1-11-2014</b><br /><br />After the first week withdrawal symptoms from the carbs, sugar and coffee, the start of this week has been a breeze to handle, though there is a little fatigue still, but considering I have MS, it's pretty normal, the last time though, I was definitely less fatigued so I am hoping the same thing will occur by the end of the month at least, to stay positive you need a few "wins" along the way, so far the weight loss is on track. I think my brain might be coming just that wee bit clearer, I've felt like writing more lately and the words are coming a little easier, but it's too early to know whether it's from the Paleo Diet or just the way MS works, you do have some good days occasionally where you can take on the world, not often, but now and then.<br /><br />I will need to do another grocery order this week at some stage, I am down to the last of my meat, that's a bit scary lol. I even had to buy some Bacon from the Servo/Coles mini mart, I love all bacon, but I am enjoying the streaky bacon a bit more since eating the Paleo way, more yummy fat in the streaky bacon, Coles mini mart only has the usual bacon we seem to prefer in Australia, I like it as well, but Paleo does like more fat to burn!<br /><br />"You don't win friends with salad", though it is a quick and easy supplement to your meat, it's important to eat the veggies/salads, the Paleo diet is not about eating meat only.<br /><br />I think my eyesight might be just a little clearer, in my "looking through fog left eye", that might just be wishful thinking as well, though things like this are what happened last time, a lessening of symptom severity overall! It's like the fog is starting to clear, with holes in the fog that make it a little easier to see through.<br /><br />I'm drinking between one and two litres of water a day.<br /><h2><span style="font-size: small;">Ketosis and Ketone Test Strips</span></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44suZOxPXjs/VFjswMSy3JI/AAAAAAAAFRg/KRfurL0gkNo/s1600/ketostix02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-44suZOxPXjs/VFjswMSy3JI/AAAAAAAAFRg/KRfurL0gkNo/s1600/ketostix02.jpg" height="320" width="291" /></a></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div>These strips are not needed, though I am going to get some to test my urine to see if I am in ketosis, more of an interest than anything else, I just want to know lol.<br /><br /></div><a href="http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html">http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html</a><br /><br />Got the ketosis test strips, yippee I'm in ketosis, expected that, but just had to know for sure lol<br /><br />I tested my urine with the strips and I'm definitely in Ketosis, I've been in "Moyen" (third one from top) going by the scale and colour of the test strip, it's all very interesting!<br /><br />I have also started walking, baby steps (literally), around the block, haven't measured the exact distance, but it is a somewhat hilly sloping block I am on, not sure what's worse, going down the slope or going back up lol.<br /><br />I've lost two Kilograms in weight, I find the best time to weigh myself is the morning, during the day your weight goes up and down like a yoyo, I guess when your drinking litres of water it will tend to add weight as will the food of course, but after a good nights sleep letting the body do it's thing I'm always losing weight after a sleep each day, just a bit but it's happening!<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/FaX1yWDtWk0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Essendon North VIC 3041, Australia-37.7413335 144.90624149999996-37.753890500000004 144.88607149999996 -37.7287765 144.92641149999997https://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/11/week-two-paleo-diet.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7942613540507437121.post-11476999708644506862014-10-19T22:37:00.000+11:002015-08-05T22:06:10.588+10:00Week One - Paleo Diet!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zs5azscaYhg/T1rsQbz7PwI/AAAAAAAAArc/LAaohsiSWX0/s1600/caveman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zs5azscaYhg/T1rsQbz7PwI/AAAAAAAAArc/LAaohsiSWX0/s1600/caveman.png" /></a></div><h2><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Paleo Diet, first week start date</span></h2><h2><b>19-10-2014 to 25-10-2014</b></h2><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I started the Paleo Diet again this week, I did my shopping for the week, so that's all sorted, hopefully it lasts me a little longer than one week! Yes I tried not that long ago to get back on Paleo, but now I have no commitments or old friends dropping over to corrupt me lol, which makes things a little easier to give it another go and hopefully &nbsp;stay on it for a while.&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>This week I bought</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chicken Drumsticks</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Roast SilverSide Beef (accident)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Porterhouse Steak</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bacon</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Eggs</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Red Kale</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cos Lettuce</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Coral Lettuce</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tomatoes</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Red Onion</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Butter</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Coconut Milk</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The very first meals were meat and steamed veggies, seeing as the weather has been a little warmer, the meals have since been salad based with meat. I have been very diligent in unpackaging the meat and freezing it before it spoils, after the two roast beef's were cooked I carved and froze them, they make a great lunchtime snack, especially nice with salad.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have made a Coconut Milk smoothie, nothing fancy just a tin of coconut milk, a little vanilla essence, a touch of nutmeg, a little Macadamia oil and blend, chill before drinking.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I seem to be getting some joint pain, especially in my hips, hopefully it's because of the diet, I think I got some joint pain the last time I was on Paleo, so I'm not to concerned at the moment. Also getting the odd headache, just annoying more than anything else, that will definitely be from the Paleo experience. Also today, I had a bit of the runs a few times, though it did happen last time, must be the transition to fuelling the body with fat rather than sugar, my guess :)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh I'm always on the search for fast Paleo Food, there are no Paleo type restaurants or Cafes near me so I need to make do, after doing a bit of searching on the fast food stores web sites, out of the three right near me, McDonalds is good until you read the ingredients of the chicken (coated with some crap), so Mc Chucks is out... On to&nbsp;Kentucky&nbsp;Fried&nbsp;Chicken, salads don't exist in their world. The winner is Red Rooster for those who don't know, it's barbequed chicken but it's just like a roast, or how a roast chicken is done the fast food way is how I see it, it's not Paleo as such, but it's damn handy for a change and quite nice to boot!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Red Rooster has a "Classic Salad" I think it's called, it has chicken, lettuce, red cabbage, tomato and carrots, there is some sachet with I think Balsamic vinegar type dressing, obviously I didn't use that, it's a simple salad and of course not as tasty as a salad with dressing, but overall not too bad at all, definitely acceptable for when you just can't be shagged cooking or preparing a meal. Red Rooster also has roast veggies, roast carrot, pumpkin and potatoes, you can change the potato to say another piece of pumpkin or carrot if you like, I did, haven't bought potatoes for years now, this will just be an occasional treat though, no doubt they cook with the bad oils, so be it, the important thing for now is to lose weight.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Salads</span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.redrooster.com.au/menu/140/Garden-Salad-Regular">http://www.redrooster.com.au/menu/140/Garden-Salad-Regular</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Roast Veggies<br /><a href="http://www.redrooster.com.au/menu/175/Roast-Vegies">http://www.redrooster.com.au/menu/175/Roast-Vegies</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh yes I know the Paleo Crowd will be turning in their graves, well some of them &nbsp;anyway, but with the fatigue from MS and heat,&nbsp;<b>not</b> cooking in my kitchen is a must at times (especially summer time) and it's just nice to have slack days where someone else can do the meal preparation, one day I'll find a handy establishment that serves Paleo meals, but I'll have to make do for now.</span></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/nqrblog/~4/IF24BzaodNM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Darin Allanhttps://plus.google.com/108573884623754251810noreply@blogger.com0Melbourne VIC, Australia-37.814107 144.96327999999994-38.6164245 143.67238649999993 -37.0117895 146.25417349999995https://www.darinallanblog.com/2014/10/week-one-paleo-diet.html